A manual of Gothic moldings : with directions for copying them, and for determining their dates

A

MANUAL OF GOTHIC MOLDINGS

A MANUAL

OF

GOTHIC MOLDINGS :

WITH

DIRECTIONS FOE COPYING THEM AND FOE
DETEEMINING THEIR DATES.

Illustrate fw nphrarbs of Jfunbrrir fain|I*s.

By F. A. PALEY, M.A.,

AUTHOR OF "A MANUAL OF GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE," ETC.

FIFTH EDITION,
WITH NUMEROUS ADDITIONS AND IMPROVEMENTS,

By W. M. FAWCETT, M.A.,

JESUS COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE ; ARCHITECT.

LONDON :

G-UENEY & JACKSON, 1, PATEENOSTEE EOW.

(Mr. Van Voorst's Successors.)

M.DCCC.XCT.

A//T

LONDON :

PRINTED BY WOODFALL AND KI
70 TO 76, LONG ACRE, VV.C.

TH£ GETTY CENftK
UBRARV

CONTENTS.

I. — Introductory

II. — The General Principles of Formation

III. — Of Copying Moldings

IV. — Of Early Moldings in general
V— Of Early English Moldings .

VI— Of Decorated Moldings .
VII. — Of Perpendicular Moldings .
VIII— Of the Plans of Gothic Columns .

IX. — Of Capitals

X. — Of Bases

XL — Of Hood-Moldings and String-Courses

XII. — Conclusion

Descriptions of Plates.

EDITOK'S PKEFACE TO THE THIKD EDITION.

A Third Edition of the Manual of Gothic Moldings having
been called for, the present Editor, at the request of Mr. Paley,
has undertaken to prepare it for the Press. Though it is
always difficult for one person to carry out satisfactorily the
work of another, the Author was of opinion that the revision
of a professional man would secure accuracy, and give the
work that practical character which he wished it to have.

The additions and alterations that have been made have
chiefly been done by way of further explanation where anything
might not previously have seemed clear to a student ; at the
same time, the Editor has been careful to keep the book within
its present limits, lest he should change its whole character
from an elementary treatise to one of an entirely different
class.

A considerable number of woodcuts has also been inserted
by way of additional illustration, and, as far as practicable, the
localities of the examples in the plates have been indexed ; but,
as these were taken from the Author's note-books when the
work was first published, many of them cannot now be ascer-
tained with certainty.

The Author has employed the terms "Early English,"
" Decorated," and " Perpendicular " throughout, and these are
so thoroughly engrafted into the work, and are, besides, so
generally understood, that the Editor felt it would have been
undesirable to attempt any alteration. But the student should

'Viii PBEFACE TO THE THIED EDITION.

remember that the object to be attained in nomenclature is to
define clearly the date and locality at which certain kinds of
work prevailed. Now the two latter of these terms do not ful-
fil this condition, and therefore, in using them, the student
must be careful that he knows the dates to which they refer.
Several new terms have been proposed, but those here employed
have become so generally adopted that no others have succeeded
in displacing them. Mr. Fergusson has proposed the adoption
of Edwardian and Plantagenet in a manner analogous to Tudor,
Elizabethan, &c, already in common use ; also such terms
as "early thirteenth century," "late fourteenth," &c, are
frequently employed, and have the advantage of being very
precise.

An accurate knowledge of Moldings is indispensable to any
one professing even an amateur's acquaintance with architec-
ture ; but he who attempts to practise as an architect (however
freely he may use his knowledge) must study them thoroughly,
not merely by reading a work like this (though that may be of
great assistance), "but by actually going about observing and
measuring them himself; for very little can be learnt without
measuring, as scale has a very important effect on the character
of Moldings.

There is, perhaps, hardly an old Church existing without
something worth sketching in it ; and often, in Moldings,
charming little variations may be found, which at first sight
would hardly be suspected. The Editor, therefore, feels that lie
cannot do better than advise those who wish to attain a true
knowledge of the science of Gothic Moldings, not merely to
read about them, but to sketch them carefully, and to measure
them accurately.

W. M. F.

Cambridge, 1st December, 1864.

EDITOR'S PREFACE TO THE FIFTH EDITION.

Since the last edition of this work was issued its talented
Author has passed away, and it will be probably of interest to
our readers, as well as respectful to his memory, if in the
Preface to the new edition I give some account of his life.

He was born on 14th January, 1815, at Easingwold, near
York, of which parish his father was Vicar. In due time he
was sent to Shrewsbury, where Dr. Butler was then the Head
Master, and in 1834 he came up to St. John's College,
Cambridge, and took his degree in 1838. That such a ripe
classical scholar as he was should not have appeared in the
Tripos seems a little strange ; but at that time every one going
out in honours at all was obliged first to appear in the
Mathematical Tripos. Paley either could not or would not
take the trouble to do this (probably the greater part of the
latter), and so was not eligible to enter in the lists for Classical
honours. It was commonly said that he was plucked in one of
the college examinations in Paley' s "Evidences" because he
wrote at the foot of his paper, " Tales of my Grandfather "—he
being a grandson of Archdeacon Paley who wrote the
"Evidences of Christianity." Whether true or not the tale
is certainly characteristic of the man.

While at Cambridge he was much interested in Architecture,
and naturally became a member of the Cambridge Camden
Society. He held the office of Secretary from 1841-2 to its
dissolution in 1845, when it merged into the Ecclesiological
Society. The first form of this book was that of papers written

b

X

PREFACE TO THE FIFTH EDITION.

for the Society ; among the notices of which we find that
on 13th February, 1844, Mr. F. A. Paley read a paper " On
the Mouldings of Pointed Architecture," "Part I. Norman and
Early English" ; and on 5th March the same notice appears,
only finishing with " Part II. Decorated and Perpendicular
Styles." He had taken great interest in these details, and had
had considerable opportunity of getting a fair knowledge of
them.

A letter to me from his brother, Mr. E. Or. Paley, of
Lancaster, says :- — " I well remember going home to my father's
Rectory at Gretford, near Stamford (about 1839 to 42), and
taking with me, amongst other architectural books, Eickman's
' Attempt to discriminate the Styles of Architecture in
England.' My brother, I recollect well, read this work with
avidity, and became extremely interested in the subject of
English Architecture, and frequently accompanied me in my
visits to examine and sketch the neighbouring churches, which
fortunately were singularly good and interesting buildings of
every date from the eleventh to the sixteenth centuries. As a
young student of Church Architecture, I measured and sketched
mouldings as one important part of my studies, and I like to
think that my brother's early interest in this work (not usually
much taken up by amateurs) thus commenced and developing
into a systematic and careful study of the subject, and
collecting examples of mouldings of various dates, fortunately
eventuated in the publication of his book on Mouldings. I had
the pleasure to send him from time to time several of the
examples that appear in the book. A keen and close observation
was certainly a characteristic of my brother, and this quality
may account for the somewhat remarkable fact that an amateur
should give such close attention to a subject that the majority
of students, professional or otherwise, consider rather dry and
uninteresting, though really of the first importance, — indeed
the foundation and groundwork of the art."

PREFACE TO THE FIFTH EDITION. xi

This letter shows clearly that he was fully qualified to speak
when he read his paper before the Cambridge Camden Society
in 1844.

Mr, E. G. Paley has also sent me a letter to our Author from
Mr. Augustus Welby Pugin, which, though undated, is evidently
written about this time, and is too interesting to be omitted
here : —

" My dear Sir, — I was truly gratified by the receipt of your
kind letter. There are few men whose appreciation I should
desire more than your own. In fact I have never met with any
one who entertains more correct views of Church Architecture
than yourself and our friend Mr. Webb. The Ecclesiologisi
does an infinity of good, and I am the more reconciled to its
not being quite so strong as you and I could wish, as it is
therefore better received by a host of intermediate men who
could not swallow strong drink, but are exceedingly useful to
the cause as far as they go. Your tracing which you so kindly
sent me, will be of the greatest service to me at the present
time. Would it be trespassing on your goodness to ask for a
few tracings from the ' Bestiary ' in the Library ? I want to
give some outlines of animals.

"Believe me, yours most sincerely,

"Welby Pugin."

"Mr. Paley 's powers as a Greek scholar were first proved in
1844 by his edition of the Supplices of .ZEschylus, which displays
not only his knowledge of the language and of his author,
but his power of emendation. This was followed at intervals
by editions of all the other plays of iEschylus.

" In later life he devoted himself almost entirely to Greek
literature, and he published editions of Euripides, Hesiod and
other authors with English notes. He gave most attention to the
vexata qiuestio of the authorship of the Homeric poems, and
also published a translation of Pindar, and showed his know-
ledge of the Latin language by editing Propertius." But he

xii BEEF ACE TO THE FIFTH EDITION.

was not idle on the subject of Architecture, which he always
seemed to take up as a change whenever time could be found.

The " Manual of Gothic Architecture " (1846) ; " The Eccle-
siologist's Guide to Churches near Cambridge" (1844); " Re-
marks on the Architecture of Peterborough Cathedral" (2nd
edition, 1856) ; " Architectural Notes on Cartmel Priory
Church" (2nd edition, 1872); "Notes on Twenty Parish
Churches round Peterborough " (1860) ; the Introduction to
"Illustrations of Baptismal Fonts;" and "The Church
Restorers: a Tale," are, I believe, a fair, if not complete,
list of his architectural works besides this book on Moldings.

Soon after the dissolution of the Cambridge Camden
Society, Mr, Paley, in 1847, joined the Church of Rome, and
left Cambridge.

In 1860 he returned to Cambridge, and was always re-
carded as one of the most careful Classical Tutors.

He remained until he accepted the post of Professor of
Classical Literature at the newly-formed Roman Catholic
College at Kensington. Since the dissolution of that establish-
ment he resided at Bournemouth, where he remained till he
passed away, on Sunday, 9th December, 1888.

This edition of his work on Moldings has been carefully
revised by the Editor, and several new illustrations inserted.

It has become so much lately a text-book for students, rather
than what it originally was, a manual for the amateur, that it
may be as well to remind the critical reader that the mass of
illustrations were taken from Mr. Paley's note-book, when he
himself was studying the subject, and for strict and absolute
accuracy the student must measure for himself and not depend
on small scale sketches. How far an artist should confine him-
self to copying the moldings, &c, of ancient work is a matter
each must decide for himself ; but whatever freedom he may
allow himself in his work, he is sure to find great value in a
thorough acquaintance with the experience and work of those
who have gone before him.

A MANUAL OF GOTHIC MOLDINGS.

SECTION I,

INTEODUCTOKY.

No person can have devoted much time and pains to the in-
vestigation of Christian architecture, as it was practised in
this country during the Middle Ages, without feeling the im-
portance of acquiring an accurate knowledge of Moldings.*
That certain conventional forms or details were in use at
certain periods, and were uniformly adopted in the constructive
decoration of all edifices, ecclesiastical and secular, throughout
the length and breadth of the land, with varieties rather of
combination or disposition than of the component members,
is an undoubted fact, well known to and admitted by all who
have paid any attention to the subject. But whence these
forms arose, whether from a natural process of gradual develop-
ment, or from some real or pretended secret of freemasonry,
or, lastly, from mere accident or caprice, are curious questions,
which, so far as the author is aware, have never yet been made
the subjects of much investigation. Again, how far the same
forms were arbitrary or obligatory in ancient freemasonwork,
how far they emanated from some particular source, and were
dispensed by authority through the country, or were assumed
by some tacit agreement on the part of the masons themselves,
are equally interesting speculations, though, perhaps, equally

* This, the ancient orthography of the word, has been adopted after
Professor Willis.

B

2

MANUAL OF GOTHIC MOLDINGS.

difficult to determine. However this may have been, it is
quite certain that a strict intercourse must have been kept up
between the members of this body of artisans, or almost every
ancient church would exhibit new and strange varieties in the
details of its moldings. When the difficulty which then
existed of constant and speedy communication between distant
parts of the country is considered, this general resemblance
and uniformity, not only indeed in moldings, but in all the
parts and features of Church architecture, must appear still
more surprising. There is in all these enough of licence and
variety to give scope for occasional localisms, and to make it
probable that each architect worked, to a certain extent, inde-
pendently, and yet there is such resemblance and decided
adherence to rule, as to make it evident that some system
must have been observed both in designing and executing
them.

Or can this acknowledged uniformity be referred to no more
recondite cause than fashion ? Can it be said, that as the
same kind of hat, or coat, or other article of dress, is seen in
London which is found in common use at York, with varieties,
indeed, and a considerable degree of caprice in adorning or
diversifying them ; and that, as all these things are ex-
clusively in the hands of certain bodies, as hatters and tailors,
and no one ever dreams of employing others than these in
providing them ; so there was at once a fashion and a mono-
poly in architecture ; and a solecism in moldings would have
seemed to the ancient Churchman as striking and offensive a
fault as a solecism in dress is now considered ? Perhaps this
is the most rational and probable view ; but then it is one so
very different from modern architectural practice, in which
every professor is at liberty to design just as he pleases, and
even when he pretends to imitate, is apt very freely to indulge
his own pleasure, and even to ridicule the restraints of strict
rule, that it certainly does appear strange and unaccountable.

INTRODUCTORY.

3

However, all these questions are quite foreign to the object
of the present work. They are all the province of the anti-
quary rather than the architect, and as such it is out of place
to say anything more about them, especially as the writer is
incompetent to give any solution of the difficulty which they
involve. But this may reasonably be observed, that it is to be
regretted that so little has yet been done in reducing to a
science this interesting and practically important department
of Gothic architecture. Probably a fancied uncertainty and
obscurity of the study, or a want of sufficient data, or ignor-
ance of the exact periods at which buildings were erected, and
the apparent anomalies and inconsistencies which seem often
to occur, have all tended to deter even the most competent
from writing a complete treatise on the subject. To these may
be added the tediousness of making any considerable collec-
tion of drawings and sections of moldings, the delay and
difficulty of copying them with minute accuracy, and the
amount of observation and research necessary for attaining a
knowledge of their history and true theory.* These are
causes at once sufficient to render a first attempt imperfect,
and to induce the reader to pardon any errors or deficiencies
which he may notice in the course of the present work.

It may possibly be said, Why should so much pains be
taken in investigating these comparatively insignificant
minutiae : why should they not be copied in our new churches
without writing books about them, and so turning an amusing
pursuit into a hard lesson, by imposing on beginners so much
to learn ? The answer is, that moldings are of the greatest

* Since the above was written, an important work on Gothic Moldings
has been published by Edward Sharpe, Esq., M.A., being a series of
examples, reduced (for the most part) to one-third size, arranged according
to their dates, and printed in different tints, so as to be readily distin-
guished. (London, E. and F. N. Spon, Charing Cross, in six parts 4to.
1871.) Mr. Sharpe's fine work, Architectural Parallels, folio, contains a
large number of reduced outline plans and sections of moldings of the
finest period.

3 2

4 MANUAL OF GOTHIC MOLDINGS.

possible importance : so much so, that they have rightly been
called " the very grammar of the art." They are by far the
most certain, and very frequently the only guides in determin-
ing the dates of buildings, or of architectural members ; they
are just as essential to a knowledge of architecture, as a map
is to the study of geography. In practice, too, they are of the
first importance. No one has any claim to the name of
architect who thinks the science of moldings beneath his notice.

It must be confessed, that some years ago, on the first revival
of the true principles of Gothic architecture, very serious, and
indeed surprising mistakes were frequently committed, even by
architects of repute, in the details of their moldings. There
was but little discrimination of styles, and a general poverty of
appearance prevailed, especially in the working of capitals and
bases. In structures of that period, even of considerable pre-
tension, it was but too common to find the most wretched and
meagre imitations of ancient examples, the spirit and char-
acter of which were completely lost or perverted by some
violation of leading principles.* This is in striking contrast
with ancient practice; the smallest and humblest churches
often show very pretty and carefully worked moldings, and
their uniformity of type, with, of course, minor differences, is
surprising. It is gratifying to find such rapid improvement
and so much increased attention on the part of our present
architects, who are fully sensible of the great importance of
correct moldings to the effect, as well as to the distinctive
character, of their designs.

A work on moldings may have any one of the three following
ends in view. It may either contain a great collection of the
best examples, accurately reduced to a scale, or accompanied by
measurements, so as to form a magazine of reference, and thus

* As an instance, the molding of the archway in the centre of the
cloister to the new buildings of St. John's College, Cambridge, is partly
Early English and partly debased Perpendicular ; apparently an original
composition of the late Mr. Eickman's.

INTRODUCTORY. 5

supply the wants of practical men, who may often be unable to
procure in their immediate neighbourhood any available models ;
or, secondly, it may profess to be a complete and elaborate
exposition of the theory of moldings, dealing with principles
rather than with bare facts, and taking a comprehensive view
of the whole subject through the medium of the Classic and
Romanesque varieties ; or, lastly, it may be an elementary
treatise, intended only to convey plain and easy information on
the most ordinary forms, and on the differences observable in
each style. The first could perhaps be satisfactorily accom-
plished only by a professional man, who might be supposed to
know the wants of architects and the best method of supplying
them. The second would require not only very considerable
acuteness and ingenuity, but the observation and collections of
many years, and from all places where Gothic architecture has
prevailed. The last alone seems capable of being tolerably
well treated by an amateur, who has himself seen the want of
some work on the subject, and being thrown entirely upon his
own resources in examining and investigating it.

Such, then, is the aim and object of the present work, of
which the method of treatment is simple and practical as far as
possible. It is obvious that the number of examples given
might be absolutely unlimited, and that to attempt a complete
illustration would require many hundreds of engravings, and a
judicious selection out of thousands of drawings. Such exten-
sive resources the author does not profess to possess ; nor can
he even assert that every one of the examples he has given,
from a collection of a few hundreds of full-sized sections, and
about as many drawings, made at different times and places by
the eye alone, is of that perfect and minute accuracy which
might have been obtained by a laborious reduction of full-sized
outlines to one and the same scale. The object being to ex-
plain details and formations, and to point out differences,
rather than to furnish models for modern imitation, this ex-

6 MANUAL OF GOTHIC MOLDINGS.

treme faithfulness of delineation, though of course highly
desirable, is unnecessary, and was in the present case quite
impracticable. For the same reason the measurements are
only occasionally added.* The specimens engraved are mostly
those of ordinary occurrence, rather than examples of rare ex-
ceptions to the general practice of the ancient architects.

Viewed as an inductive science, the study of Gothic moldings
is as curious and interesting in itself as it is important in its
results* Any one who engages actively in it will be amply re-
paid, if only by the enlarged views he will acquire of the
ancient principles of effect, arrangement, and composition.
The curves, the shadows, and the blending forms, are really in
themselves extremely beautiful, and will soon become the
favourites of a familiar eye : though, viewed without under-
standing, they may seem only an unmeaning cluster of hollows,
nooks, and shapeless excrescences. Many persons are not
aware that every group can be analyzed with perfect ease and
certainty ; that every member is cut by rule, and arranged by
certain laws of combination. But such is surely the case ;
and a knowledge of the fact should convince the student of the
reasonableness of the study. Let him only enter upon it, and
he will be rewarded for his pains. The only necessary con-
ditions are a tolerable idea of delineation, and a general interest
in Church architecture. Possessed of these simple qualifi-
cations, he will be led on by his subject from step to step,
almost imperceptibly, ever observing and adding to his store of
facts and examples, and tracing out to his own satisfaction the
forms and processes through which he conceives moldings to
have passed in the various stages of their development. He
will learn to pronounce with some degree of confidence the
date of the merest fragment of sculptured stone. A broken
piece of a capital, a string-course, or a door-jamb, dug up on

* Most of the woodcuts, and the examples in the last five plates, have
been reduced from actual measurements.

INTRODUCTORY. 7

the reputed site of an ancient building, will tell him of what
style and date the fabric was, of which so insignificant a
remnant alone remains.* He will ever and anon meet with
some new and singular conformation, perhaps overturning
some of his previously formed theories, — perhaps clearly re-
ducible to and confirmatory of them. He will look at every
ancient building, however dilapidated or defaced, with a more
searching eye, — for he will be sure to find in its very demolition
peculiar facilities for research. He will regard every shattered
arch with a new attention. He will find the same satisfaction
in examining it which a botanist finds in a rare plant, a herald
in an ancient escutcheon, or a geologist in an undescribed
fossil.

The learner must understand that the best work on Gothic
moldings which could possibly be written will do no more than
set him in the right way to obtain a knowledge of the subject
by his own research. A few examples in the page of a book
are as nothing, if he does not apply in practice that which he
has learned from them. The look of a molding is so very
different in section, projected in a reduced size on paper, from
its appearance in perspective reality, and with the effects of
light and shade upon it, that the same form seen in the one
may not even be recognized in the other. It is here, therefore,
once for all explained how the engravings are to be understood.

Supposing a molded archway were to be taken down, and any
one of the arch-stones placed upon a large square sheet of
paper, in such a manner that the wall-line, or part of the stone

* The Messrs. Brandon have pointed out the interesting fact, that
although earlier styles were occasionally imitated in completing or alter-
ing buildings at a later period, the moldings of the respective eras were
always most faithfully preserved. " The assimilating process never
extended to the moldings. To however great an extent the earlier por-
tion of an edifice may have been subsequently copied, these important
members were always worked in strict conformity with the ordinary
system prevalent at the time of their construction." — Analysis of Gothic
Architecture, p. 10, Introduction.

9 MANUAL. OF GOTHIC MOLDINGS.

which lies in the plane of the outer wall, should be parallel
with the end of the paper nearest to you, and the soffit or inner
surface, at right angles with it, parallel to one side ; and then
a pencil were to be carried along the wall-line first, and after-
wards in and out of each cavity and round each projection, and
so up a portion of the soffit-plane ; the outline thus obtained
reduced to a small size (say a scale of half an inch to a foot),
and shaded on the part which represents the flat side or bed of
the stone, would form a diagram exactly similar to our illustra-
tions. Again, if a string-course were to be sawn across, or a
capital or base down the middle, and a piece of paper inserted
in the crevice, and marked off by the sharp edge of the mold-
ing, this would in the same way represent
the shaded sections of these details. The
usual popular way of engraving Gothic mold-
ings is to give a perspective sketch of a stone
or slice cut out of the arch, showing at once
the flat end or upper face, and the moulded
Decorated door-jamb, side, and shading the cavities and pro-

Maxey, Northampton.

jections, as in the woodcut and PL. V. fig. 5.
But this, though its general appearance is certainly much more
like the reality, does not give so clear a view of the forms of
the separate members. The method adopted by architects is
uniformly that which has been followed in the plates illustrating
the present work. Each example is, in fact, the same as the
templet or mold, a thin plate of zinc, tin, or wood, which is used
by workmen in marking out the stones previously to cutting
them out. The shaded portion of PL. XII. fig. 15, is a good
illustration of a templet.

But the student must not only observe : he must copy mold-
ings in order to understand them. Without the latter, his
knowledge will never be practically perfect. How to do this,
will shortly be shown, by explaining some of the various
methods which have been practised. It must be understood, at

INTRODUCTORY.

9

the outset, that though certain lines, planes, and measurements
may he drawn in all cases to assist the process, and ensure
general fidelity, they are somewhat difficult to copy accurately
by the eye, because the exact curves, which are not always
geometric, can scarcely be caught without considerable practice.
And if the true form is not attained by the first stroke, the en-
deavours to improve it will seldom be very successful. Perhaps
the student's first attempts will result in failure ; but it is sur-
prising how well and how readily a practised hand can copy in
a few minutes a most complex group. A small note-book
should be kept exclusively for copying moldings by the eye, the
measurements and name of place being duly registered with
each example.*

For the mediaeval nomenclature of moldings, the learned and
useful work lately published by Professor Willis, and already
alluded to,f supplies an authentic source of information. In
this treatise, some of the ancient names of moldings have
been recovered ; and it is to be hoped they will be revived,
especially in the present dearth of terms.

A few expressions used in the present work it will be neces-
sary clearly to define before entering upon the subject.

Any architectural member is said to be molded, when the
edge or surface of it presents continuous lines of alternate pro-
jections and recesses.

A drawing which represents these lines as they appear to
the eye placed exactly opposite to them, is called the eleva-
tion of a molding, as in PL. I. fig. 8 ; PL. X. figs. 1 to 5, 22,
24, 40.

A drawing which represents the outline of these projections

* Nothing is better adapted for a pedestrian tourist than a block sketch-
ing book, in the pocket of which a small " T-square," for ruling parallel
and rectangular lines, should be kept. These are to be obtained with the
leaves fixed on one side, so that they form a book when complete, and the
objection to having a number of loose sheets is obviated.

+ The Architectural Nomenclature of the Middle Ages, being Part IX.
of the Transactions of the Cambridge Antiquarian Society.

10 MANUAL OP GOTHIC MOLDINGS.

and recesses, is called the section or profile of a molding, being
the appearance it would present if cut through by a plane at
right angles to its bearing. Thus, PL. I. fig. 10, if cut across
A B, would present the appearance of fig. 5.

A mold, or molding (the former is the ancient term), com-
monly signifies the entire series which ornaments a jamb or
arch ; but it is here generally used in the sense of a particular
part or member of such series.

Members are said to be grouped, when placed in combina-
tion, as we generally find them ; but

A group is a bunch of moldings or separate members,
standing prominent or isolated, either on a shaft or between
two deep hollows.

An arch of two or more orders, is one which is recessed by
so many successive planes or retiring sub-arches, each placed
behind and beneath the next before it, reckoning from the
outer wall-line. Thus, PL. L fig. 5, is the section aross an
arch of " two orders," and fig. 7 is of " three hollow-cham-
fered orders."

As it is necessary for every student in this science, first to
understand the general principles of formation, and, secondly,
to be able to draw or "take" moldings, either full-sized or
reduced to a scale, with tolerable precision, these preliminary
points will be explained as simply and briefly as possible,
before entering upon the consideration of the combinations
and more minute varieties of detail.

GENERAL PRINCIPLES OP FORMATION.

11

SECTION II.

THE GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF FORMATION.

It seems certain that all the forms of Gothic Moldings are the
peculiar and genuine offspring of Christian architecture, or at
least are very partially and indirectly borrowed from the Classic
styles; although, as might be expected, some coincidences of
form exist between them. There are some who contend that
Gothic moldings are derived, mediately indeed, yet very de-
cidedly, from Eoman ; a supposition hardly probable in itself,
when we observe that in the Norman style (in England at
least), which was most closely connected with the Classic, the
forms of the moldings which we call Gothic are merely nascent,
and entirely undeveloped; and one which appears scarcely ten-
able, from the consideration that the mediaeval architects of this
country * could have known little of Italian architecture, and if
they had, we cannot suppose they would have cared to copy in
its details what they altogether repudiated in its kind. But the
convincing argument is this : that in Gothic molding all the
links in the process of formation are connected and complete,
from the first and rudest origin to the most elaborate develop-
ment ; and the steps are so natural, the transitions so easy,
that any two styles working independently of each other from
the same beginnings and elemental forms, could hardly fail of
arriving at least at some of the same results. Again, if at
this or that period, a new member was introduced, and, as it

* It is true that the Freemasons were an ecclesiastical body under the
Pope, and not confined to this or any other particular country in Europe.
It is also true that the intercourse with Rome was always frequent, from
the time of St. Augustine downwards. Still it is impossible to trace in
pure Gothic buildings the least symptom of Italianizing either in com-
position or details. This is also the opinion of the authors of the Analysis
of Gothic Architecture, page 48.

12 , MANUAL OF GOTHIC MOLDINGS.

were, a new letter added to the alphabet, why should it not he
attributed to invention, rather than sought for in the resem-
blance which an Italian molding may happen to bear to it ?
However, the discussion of this question is rather for those
who have to do with the theory of moldings, as the determina-
tion of it does not in the least affect the facts of which this
work treats.

From the time of the formation of the first Christian
Basilica to the middle of the twelfth century, there is such a
general resemblance in the character of the work, as to have
caused it to be classed under the one title of Romanesque.
About that time it must be remembered that the whole of
Western Europe was engaged in the first Crusade, and though
it can hardly be said that the early Gothic forms are mere
copies of Classic or Eastern ones, the effect of travel would
naturally be to accustom the mind to see beauty in an entirely
different class of forms, and to enlarge its capacity of design-
ing according to the requirements it met with.

That the whole tone of architecture was then altered is an
undoubted fact, and some leading features were then introduced
for the first time. Also in matters of mere detail, we find new
forms, some of which may be traced to foreign sources : the
Early English base is allowed by all to have been borrowed
from the Attic ; and it will hereafter clearly be demonstrated
that such was the case. And it is undeniable that several
forms and combinations of the ogee curve are nearly identical
in Classic and in Gothic buildings, Still, if every Gothic
form can be shown to be an improvement or modification of a
preceding one, it must be concluded that the whole series is
the offspring of one and the same progressive art.

In truth, Gothic architecture grew up under peculiar circum-
stances, and to satisfy special wants ; in its origin eclectic, it
adapted details from Saracenic or Moorish (i.e. Arabian), from
Norman, from the debased Classical, from the Byzantine

GENERAL PRINCIPLES OP FORMATION. 13

♦churches, half Greek in design, and from Italian, Lombardic,
;and Komanesque edifices of all dates and descriptions. Its
history is truly one of " evolution ; " that is, of successive
changes of form and modifications produced by various cli-
mates, national taste or genius, material, and numerous other
influences, both internal and external.

In their use also Gothic moldings differ as widely as possible
from Classic. The former are repeated to almost any extent,
so as entirely to occupy the large recessed spaces in jambs and
arches. They are repeated too in groups, each group being
composed of the same members, or nearly so, especially in the
earlier styles. The latter are few in number, and very limited
in their application. The combinations of the one are in a
great measure arbitrary, though the forms themselves are
fixed ; in the latter both are absolutely defined. The former
run principally in vertical lines, the latter in horizontal. In
Gothic architecture, horizontal moldings occur in water-tables
and string-courses, and in capitals and bases, in which posi-
tions they invariably form subordinate lines, so as to contrast
and display the predominant principles of a vertical ascending
sweep, and may so far perhaps be regarded as lingering ves-
tiges of the Classic usage. They are also used very effectively
to divide lofty walls into stages, and are carried under windows
and arcades, round the weatherings of buttresses, and ex-
tensively in base-courses.

An intelligent and thoughtful writer in the English Review *
has the following remarks on the differences between Grecian
and Gothic moldings : " Where the Grecian delighted in broad
level surfaces, catching the light in masses, or in projecting
curves on which it dies away by degrees into shadow, the
Gothic roughened and encrusted them with carving. And
thus in general we measure, or, if the expression may be used,
we read, and peruse, a Grecian molding by its lights, and the

* For December, 1844.

u MANUAL OF GOTHIC MOLDINGS.

Gothic by its shadows." Again : " Of the differences between
the two classes of molding, some may be detected by a super-
ficial view. For instance, the Grecian delights in convex lines,
the Gothic in concave ; the Grecian in broad lights, the Gothic
in narrow. The Grecian throws out projections to catch the
eye ; the Gothic endeavours to bury it in deep recesses. The
Grecian leads it gently along in sweeping, unbroken undula-
tions ; the Gothic fractures its lines, and combines them in
angles and curves. The lights and shadows of the Grecian
melt and slide insensibly into each other ; those of the Gothic

are planted together in strong and bold contrast In

the purest Grecian buildings, vertical moldings are rare. Hori-
zontal moldings form the leading lines ; and it is by these,
even in later and degenerated specimens, that the vertical
moldings are regulated. In the Gothic, vertical moldings are
most frequent ; and they overrule and determine those which
are horizontal. And Grecian moldings are simple and easily
divisible into parts ; Gothic are entangled in labyrinths, and
perplexed with innumerable intricacies."

The notion of ascending moldings is coeval with the intro-
duction of the arch, and may indeed be traced to a still earlier
period in the sides of doorways and similar positions. When
the Eomans broke up, by means of the arch, the continuous
horizontal entablature of the Grecians, the cornice moldings
were carried around it, and fell on each side in vertical lines
into the horizontal, thereby producing the same result as in
Gothic, though with a different effect ; in the one case, hori-
zontal lines continuing to predominate, in the other, being
subdued and rendered secondary and subordinate to the
vertical principle.

Gothic architecture revelled in the use of moldings, not only
what are usually called ornamental moldings, such as the dog-
tooth, the ball-flower, &c, but also the plain continuous lines
of light and shadow ; though they are in effect identical, since

GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF FORMATION. 15

the former are nothing but serrated ridges,* more or less
rounded and modified from the first process. Every door,
window, monial,f every edge, vertical or horizontal, every band,
string, groin-rib, roof, label, arch, and jamb, whether of wood
or stone, internal or external, was generally molded. Of course
the effect produced by so free and extended a use of them was
magnificent in the extreme. Construction gained thereby a
rich perspective, a depth of shade, an attempering of bare
prominent outlines, a fine tone, which arrested the eye, and
made it dwell on certain parts of higher pretension and more
exquisite elaboration than others. And yet moldings are merely
the ornamental adjuncts, not the essentials, of architecture.
Some buildings of the best periods were quite devoid of mold-
ings ; whence it is evident that they are not necessary even to
a perfect design. Boldness and simplicity produce effects,
different indeed in their kind, yet not less solemn and striking
than richness of detail. But the power of moldings was
appreciated to the full by the ancient architects, and it is quite
evident that they delighted in their extensive use. It was their
ambition to work them wherever they could possibly find means
and opportunity. Hence it is that such a vast quantity every-
where remains, that no ordinary pains are requisite in examining
any considerable moiety of them for the purposes of investi-
gating their principles. If the uniformity in their use had not
been tolerably strict, it had indeed been a hopeless task ever
to master the subject ; indeed, if there had not been a system
of molding, there would have been nothing to investigate. But
so little did the mediaeval masons depart from the conventional
forms, that a capital, a base, or an arch-mold is often found of
perfectly the same profile in an abbey or a cathedral, and in a
village church at the other end of the kingdom; so that we

* This may occasionally be seen, when the molding was left for some
reason or accident partially uncut. It is probable that they were gene-
rally worked out after the completion of a building.

f The mediaeval term for what we now call mullion.

16 .- MANUAL OF GOTHIC MOLDINGS.

might almost suspect that the very same working drawing had
been used for both. And this, when it is considered, must
appear a very wonderful fact.

Although the examples given here are in nearly every case
from stonework, the student would do well to notice those in
other materials, such as wood, iron, &c, for though the same

forms will be found at
the same date as in
stonework, they are on
a more delicate scale,
according to the fine-
ness of the material;
thus, in the annexed
examples, the monial
from the screen at
Burgh le Marsh, Lincolnshire, is only half the size of the
stone one from Bottisham, near Cambridge, but has more
members in it.

The reader will perhaps be tired of this preliminary chapter,
and will be anxious to enter upon the subject at once. And at
this point it may be well to proceed, beginning with very
early buildings, and endeavouring to discover the origin of the
practice, and then gradually trace the progress of development
until the forms have all been analyzed and classified according
to their respective dates.

On examining the plan of a Saxon window or doorway,
perhaps nothing more will be found than a rude square-edged
aperture in a plain wall, as in PL. I. fig. 1. This may often
be met with, even considerably later, in small and rude country
churches, especially in belfry-arches. It may, however, be
relieved and expanded by splaying it on one or both sides, that
is, by sloping or chamfering off the edges, as in fig. 2. So in
an ordinary Early English lancet window, the long narrow
opening has a very wide splay inside and a very small one on

Woodwook, Burgh. Stonework, Bottisham.

GENERAL PRINCIPLES OP FORMATION. 17

the outside, fig. 3. But in arching over the upper part of such
an aperture as fig. 1, made in a thick wall of loose rubble
masonry, it was not uncommon to add, for the sake at once of
ornament and security, a sub-arch, or under-rib, like the groin-
rib of a vault, constructed of fine-jointed ashlar, as fig. 4.
This sub-arch rested either on a pillar at each side, or a
projecting impost,* or it was carried continuously down to the
ground, that is, without any interruption or change of shape.
Now in this rude arrangement, which is observable in many
continental Romanesque churches, we shall find the germs of
a usage which ever afterwards prevailed, with some improve-
ments of form and detail, but no alteration of principle. In
the abbey church of St. Alban's, the nave and transept-arches
are constructed of two rectangular sub-ribs, or soffit-pilasters,
which are continued from the ground with the intervention of a
mere band or string-course at the impost. The same is
observable in several of the Transition arches at Buildwas
Abbey, f

By chamfering off each arris, or square edge, of this aper-
ture, which now becomes recessed, or of two orders or retiring
members, the plan is at once obtained which was most con-
stantly used, especially in pier-arches, without the least change
of form, for centuries afterwards (PL. I. fig. 5). Of course,
there may be two or more sub-arches, if the wall be very thick;
each one retiring behind the other. And the chamfer may be
hollow, or fluted, as in fig. 7, which is common in Early
English and Decorated arches. This is the case in the chancel-
arch at Cherry Hinton, near Cambridge, and was much in
vogue from about 1260 to 1320.

In practice, however, when worked on a small scale, the sub-
arch was no longer a separate constructive formation, but was

* In Transition arches, the inner order, or sub-arch, is often corbelled
off at the impost, the jambs being left square, with a small shaft at the
angles.

t Potter's Monastic Remains, PL. III. and IV.

c

MANUAL OP GOTHIC MOLDINGS.

cut out of a single stone together with the first or outer order of
moldings. The accompanying diagram represents a voussoir
or arch-stone of an ordinary Decorated

where only one side is chamfered and the other left square, as at
Horningsea, near Cambridge, circa 1190 (PL. I. fig. 9), or to the
peculiar termination represented in elevation in PL. I. fig. 10,
and PL. XXI. fig. 3, which is common in Early English arches,
as at Waterbeach, near Cambridge, or to the springing of a three-
quarter edge-roll from a square archivolt immediately above the
capital, as in PL. I. fig. 8, which is a Transition Norman arch
at Little Casterton, Rutland. Fig. 10 may conveniently be
called the broach stop* It is the way of changing the square
into the chamfered edge without abruptness, or of blending the
one into the other.

But there was another method of taking off sharp edges,
which was introduced perhaps even earlier than the other, and
exercised a much more direct influence in the formation of
moldings. This was by rounding the edge instead of cutting
it away. Hence arose the cylindrical roll or bowtell, which
was afterwards made more or less nearly a circle by cutting
out a small angular channel on each side. PL. I. fig. 6, is one
side or face of an arch-mold at Little Casterton, showing this
method, which is given more at large in fig. 21. This seems
soon to have suggested the contrast of light and shade
formed by hollows alternating with (relatively) projecting
members.

Fig. 11 is the section of a Norman pier-arch at Friesland,

It is quite evident that the above was
the origin of the commonly occurring
arch of two plain chamfered orders. Were
any proof wanting, we might refer to cases

nave-arch.

* The broaches of an octagonal spire are the semi -pyramidal projections
connecting the four oblique faces with the angles, of the square tower.

GENERAL PRINCIPLES OP FORMATION. 19

Lincolnshire. In this the square edge is worked into a shallow
triple roll.

Fig. 12 is an Early English pier-arch at Skirbeck, near
Boston. Here the bowtell is formed by rounding the edge as
before, and cutting a deep three-quarter hollow on each side.
Thus the bowtell becomes attached only by a narrow neck, as
was very usual in this style.

Fig. 13 is from Great Grimsby, and fig. 14 from Clee, both
in Lincolnshire. In the latter church a Dedication inscription
still remains,* bearing the date 1192 ; and the other is of very
nearly the same period. Both these are good examples of the
same principle ; and arch-molds of this kind are of constant
occurrence in the Norman and Transition styles. The pier-
arches in the nave of Peterborough Cathedral are molded pre-
cisely in the same manner.

These bold early moldings are generally called " edge-rolls,"
because they occur at the external angles of the receding orders,
and are yet not extended on each side. They are commonly
single, as PL. XXI. fig. 2, an arch from Seaton Church, But-
land ; but occasionally double, as fig. 1 of the same plate, the
belfry arch of Morcot Church, in the same county. From this
latter arrangement is derived the double roll and fillet which
forms the central member of PL. XVIII. fig. 8, an arch-mold
from the choir of Kipon Minster.

In considering the origin of the cylindrical roll or bowtell, the
first element of moldings, the influence of jamb-shafts must be
taken into account. In Norman doorways, every nook formed
by the receding under-ribs, already described, is occupied by a
detached column. PL. I. fig. 15, is from Adel Church, f York-
shire, and illustrates this arrangement. Now this column
seems at first to have borne a square-edged member or sub-arch,

* Facsimile given in Rickman's Gothic Architecture, Sixth Edition,
p. 234.

t See " Churches of Yorkshire," Part VII., from which this example is
borrowed.

c 2

20

MANUAL OP GOTHIC MOLDINGS.

which projected above the impost exactly where the jamb
receded below it, and which was afterwards, in some cases,
rounded off so as to correspond in form and size with the
column itself. This may very clearly be seen in an Early
Norman doorway at Hauxton, near Cambridge. Hence, by
omitting altogether the impost or capital, the idea of continuous
moldings is obtained. This subject, however, will be spoken
of more fully in treating of capitals and shafts generally.

Another form, which occurs frequently in the Transition
Hp, Norman and Early English periods, is the

j§||» pointed bowtell, resembling, and coeval

^^^^^ with, the introduction of the pointed arch.
^^^^^^ Its formation may be seen in PL. I. fig. 16,
which is the plan of a late Norman arch in
St. Mary's Church, Ely. This member arose from a desire to
decorate the angles of recessed arches, without either cutting
away or rounding off the square edge, as in the annexed
example from Croxden Abbey, Staffordshire. Hence its
occurrence in Early Gothic may be expected, and in truth it
is very frequently found in the Transition period, though not
in the pure Norman. Yet something closely resembling this
member often occurs in Norman work, between two cylindrical
bowtells, as at a, fig. 13. Fig. 17 is a triple respond or half-
pier, of very singular form, at Clee ; and fig. 19 shows its
use in an Early English arch at St. Benet's, Lincoln. In
this case the under-edge is withdrawn at the point, which seems
the origin of what is called the scroll-molding, hereafter to be
explained. Fig. 24 shows this form more at large.

The pointed shaft, the plan of which may be described as a
spherical triangle engaged at the base, is of constant occurrence
in Early English work, and is generally a mark of its early
date. The clustered columns at Byland and Whitby Abbeys
(the former circa 1190) exhibit the pointed shaft alternating
with the circular. The western porch at Ely is flanked by

GENERAL PRINCIPLES OP FORMATION. 21

clustered columns of pointed shafts. Undoubtedly this form
existed earlier than, and afterwards led to, the filleted shaft and
bowtell, which are so well known by the name of the " roll-and-
fillet." As a general rule, it may be stated that a shaft may
take almost any form to suit the primary molding which it
sustains on its capital, on the principle of continuous moldings
already alluded to.

PL. I. figs. 12 and 23, show the cylindrical and the pointed
bowtells with the addition of a small fillet at one side. Fig. 22
is a groin -rib from Eobertsbridge Abbey, where both sides are
thus filleted. Fig. 18 is a groin-rib from Tintern Abbey,
where the fillet is at the end or central point. And fig. 25 is
an Early English arch at Little Casterton, where there are
three fillets. Of all these varieties more will be said hereafter.

PL. II. fig. 1, is a pier-arch of very Early English date, at
Middle Easen. Fig. 2 is a doorway at Ludborough, fig. 3 the
chancel-arch at Langtoft, and fig. 5 the jamb of the archway of
the south porch at Great Grimsby, all in Lincolnshire. The
first three exhibit the use of the pointed bowtell. PL. XVIII.
fig. 4, is the jamb of a lancet window at the east end of
Kivaulx Abbey. This is one of the commonest moldings at
the angles of Early English window-jambs.

The student will already have perceived, from the manner
adopted here of drawing the sections, first, that all these mold-
ings are formed out of the solid block solely by removing edges
and sinking hollows, and must never be regarded as excres-
cences on a plane surface ; secondly, and in consequence, that
the groups lie in the planes of the uncut blocks, the outermost
edge of each member touching the rectangular or chamfered
surface, that is, not being cut away so as to fall below or short
of it. The original planes, or uncut square surfaces, are
represented in our engravings by dotted lines. These two
facts must be regarded as fundamental canons in the arrange-
ment of moldings.

22

MANUAL OF GOTHIC MOLDINGS.

There are three planes in which moldings will be found to
lie ; one parallel with the outer wall, which we shall designate
the wall-plane ; one at right angles to it, or parallel with the
soffit, which may be called the soffit-plane ; and the third, the
plane formed by chamfering an edge, which was generally (not
invariably) done at an angle of about forty-five degrees, or the
chamfer-plane. In PL. II. fig. 10, a is the chamfer-plane,
b the soffit-plane, c the wall-plane. It is clear that by sinking
hollows in any one of these surfaces, a group of moldings would
be developed.

In considering any series of moldings previously to copying
them, the first point is to lay down on paper the various planes,
that is, to ascertain the plan of the arch, or other feature, be-
fore the moldings were cut. When this is done by accurate
measurement, the rest of the process becomes comparatively
easy, and the most complex and extensive combination, which
it appears at first sight impossible to copy with anything like
accuracy, may be readily disentangled, analyzed, and sketched
with precision. Without attending to these facts, all attempts
to do so will be futile.

It may be alleged, as a general rule,* that Early English
moldings lie on the planes rectangular ; that Decorated, ac-
cording to their kind, fall either on these, or on the chamfer-
plane alone ; and that Perpendicular moldings almost always
lie on the last. If some members seem to fall short of one
plane, they will generally be found referable to some other ;

* " In the Anglo-Norman style the jamb-molds were almost always
worked in the wall and soffit planes ; and this continued to be the general
arrangement throughout the Early English Gothic period, although we
occasionally find the jamb molded on the chamfer-plane. During the
earlier portion of the Decorated Gothic period, the wall and soffit planes
still continued to be most generally used, but then in tolerably freqtient
connection with the chamfer-plane, which at this time was in most cases
worked exactly at an angle of 45°; and as the style advanced towards the
era of decided architectural debasement, the moldings shared in the pre-
vailing desire to produce a meretricious effect, without any reference to
correctness of composition." — Brandon's Analysis, p. 50.

GENERAL PRINCIPLES OP FORMATION. 23

and if they fall on the segment of a circle, which is much more
rarely the case, as in PL. II. fig. 15, a pier- arch at All Saints',
Stamford, the inclination must be determined by bending a
ruler or piece of lead across them. It is, however, by no
means uncommon to meet with moldings of all the styles in
which some of the members are withdrawn considerably below
the plane of the others. It is obvious that this is the most
expensive kind of molding, because more has to be cut away
from the solid block. The arrangement of moldings on the
original block-planes was less and less rigidly adhered to as the
styles progressed, and in the latest, or Third-pointed, it was
frequently entirely lost. PL. III. figs. 2 and 3, are instances
of Early English moldings not uniformly falling upon the
regular planes.

PL. II. fig. 11, is an example of a molding from Over, Cam-
bridgeshire, truly copied according to the above rules. Fig. 12
is the distorted and inaccurate form it would probably assume
if an unpractised and untaught draughtsman were to attempt
to copy it by the eye.

PL. II. fig. 7, is an Early English molding from the interior
of the chancel door, Cherry Hinton. Fig. 8 is a pier-arch, and
fig. 6 the northern doorway of the same church. Fig. 19 is a
very fine molding from the inner door of the south porch. (The
semicircle round the central group represents the capital of the
jamb-shaft.) Fig. 9 is a doorway, and fig. 13 a window-jamb,
both from Over. These are Early Decorated. Fig. 14 is a door-
way at Madingley, and fig. 16 one at Trumpington, near Cam-
bridge. These are both pure Decorated. Fig. 18 is a
magnificent arch-mold from the doorway of St. Clement's
Church, Cambridge, showing the capitals of the two jamb-
shafts. This is not an easy example to copy by the eye, for
the central member in each group does not extend to the angle,
but falls on the line of the chamfer. The observation of this
circumstance immediately removes the principal difficulty.

24 MANUAL OF GOTHIC MOLDINGS.

This section illustrates a very common peculiarity of its style,
which may be called the triplicity of moldings. Whether con-
structive or symbolical, or (as a writer in the English Review,
already quoted, imagines) suggested by philosophical principles
of effect, we need not now consider, though symbolism may have
had its influence, since the architects of the period seem to have
affected representations of the mystic number t This
molding consists of three distinct groups, each group having
three members. Occasionally each member has three fillets, so
that there is a triple triplicity in the entire composition. It is
clear, however, that if an archway has two sub-arches, or con-
sists of three orders, the angle of each will naturally form a
group of three rolls with a hollow on each side, as in fig. 5.
Early English and Decorated moldings very often consist of
three groups. Too much stress has frequently been laid on the
theory of architectural symbolism, and we only mention it as
an opinion entertained by some.

SECTION III.

OP COPYING MOLDINGS.

There are several ways of doing this. The best and simplest
of all is by inserting the paper in a loose joint, or by applying a
large sheet of paper where a stone has been removed, and left
the edges sufficiently clear and sharp to trace their outlines by
pressure against them, or by a pencil. These methods, how-
ever, are but seldom available, except in ruined buildings, and
here care should be taken not to damage or destroy any portion
of the little that is left. But many fragments of monials, groin-
ribs, voussoirs, and other molded stones, may be found in every

COPYING MOLDINGS. 25

old abbey ; and these may readily be placed upon sheets of
paper for the purpose of tracing their outlines. By these
means alone a large collection of very valuable specimens may
be made.

Another way is by the use of the leaden tape. A thin flexible
riband of this metal, about a yard in length, may be rolled into
a coil so as to be easily portable. By being manipulated and
impressed upon the moldings to be copied, and thence carefully
removed, and laid upon a sheet of paper, it retains the exact
shape it has received, and may be traced off with a pencil. In
this process, however, which requires both pains and practice to
ensure tolerable accuracy, there are many difficulties to over-
come. First, it is clear, that if the molding extends over a con-
siderable space, the tape, by its extreme pliability and great
weight, is almost unavoidably bent in transferring it to the paper,
which must be spread flat on the ground, or some level surface
nearest at hand. If this should happen, the true bearings of
the members, that is, their relative position to each other, are
confused or altogether lost, and the copy is incorrect and worth-
less. Secondly, where the molding is much undercut, or con-
tains deep and wide hollows with a narrow neck, the lead when
fitted into them cannot be withdrawn. In the first instance, it
is better to copy only eight or ten inches of the molding at
once ; or the planes in which the members respectively lie (that
is, a full-sized plan by measurement of the block, jamb or arch)
may be first marked out on the paper, and the tape adjusted to
them; in the second case, it is advisable to carry the tape
merely over the necks of the hollows, and subsequently to deter-
mine their breadth and width by inserting a measure into them.
As Early English moldings are often mutilated, from being so far
undercut that portions of the projecting members have fallen or
been broken off, the lead may frequently be manipulated into a
part which is entire, and afterwards drawn upwards or down-
wards till it finds exit at a broken place. In all cases, dirt,

26 MANUAL OF GOTHIC MOLDINGS.

moss, and whitewash must first be scraped clear away from the
part to be copied, or the sharp and rounded edges, the depth of
the hollows, &c, cannot truly be ascertained.

In using the tape, the rough draught of the pencil must
invariably be corrected by close comparison with the original,
and every separate member should be tested as to size, pro-
jection, bearing, and curvature, by the aid of the measure. A
pair of compasses with the ends bent inward is very useful in
obtaining the breadth of the members ; and if furnished with a
segmental scale-bar, or slide affixed to one leg and passing
through the other, the width of the neck of each undercut
bowtell may be exactly marked. Sharp edges and angular
hollows cannot be closely copied with the leaden tape, so that
these especially must be supplied by the eye ; on the whole,
though the tape has in some cases been successfully used, it is
so clumsy that it can hardly be recommended to the student.
An experienced hand is required for making an accurate copy ;
and the process, to produce such a result, is rather tedious.

There is a process similar in its nature and results to the
use of the leaden tape, which is very successful where the mold-
ings are not too much undercut. This is technically called
squeezing, and is practised by applying wet clay, plaster, or a
composition purposely prepared of wax and some other in-
gredients, to the part to be copied, the form of which is thus
readily and accurately obtained, though the convex and concave
surfaces are of course reversed. By pouring plaster of Paris
into the matrix thus formed, the original molding is exactly
copied. But in the case of undercutting, the difficulty is here
insurmountable, and the whole operation is tedious, clumsy,
and only fit to be applied when a model is necessary.

A beautiful and ingenious instrument has been invented by
Professor Willis, and called by him the Cymagraph, by which
moldings may be copied with the most perfect accuracy, and of
the full size. It is described and illustrated in the Engineers'

COPYING MOLDINGS. 27

and Architects' Journal, No. 58. It can be successfully used
with a very little practice ; and the most extensive and complex
moldings can be taken by its aid. The only disadvantages are,
that the instrument, though by no means large, is an inconven-
ient appendage to the equipment of a pedestrian, and that only
about a foot's width of a molding can be taken at once ; so that
a number of separate pieces of paper must be pinned together
on the spot, and that with great accuracy, or the planes and
bearings will be incorrect.

Another instrument of great elegance, and about the same
size, has (since the first edition of this work) been brought to a
considerable degree of practical utility, though not perhaps fully
to perfection, by Mr. Henry Bashforth, a Fellow of St. John's
College, Cambridge. This very clever contrivance possesses the
remarkable advantage of copying moldings on the spot, reduced
to any scale which may be desired ; and by reversing the pro-
cess, the reduced copy may afterwards be enlarged to its original
or any other size. In smaller and simpler moldings, as in
ordinary door and window jambs, bases, and capitals, and the
like, this machine answers perfectly, with one and the same
application, as the author of the present work can attest, from
having used it in company with the inventor ;* but for very
extensive and deeply undercut groups, it is generally necessary
to take a portion at a time, as in the case of Professor Willis's
cymagraph.

Geometric methods both of copying and reducing moldings,
are fallible ; for the members and curves were very often drawn
libera manu t \ especially in earlier work ; so that very consider-

* It is to be regretted that this contrivance was not made generall
known, and brought under the notice of some enterprising manufacturer.
The author is now unable to describe the plan of its construction, though
he believes it was very simple.

t If not so designed by the master, they certainly were often so cut by
the mason. Mr. Potter, in giving the full-sized sections of moldings
from Tintern Abbey, has drawn them for the most part with the com-
passes, and in this case no doubt correctly.

28 MANUAL OF GOTHIC MOLDINGS.

able deviations from geometric precision must be expected in
observing ancient examples.

Another, and for ordinary purposes much the best and
simplest way, is to copy by the eye alone, on a reduced scale,
adding the measurements of each face, as in PL. I. fig. 12.
If the particular measurements of each member are required,
they should be given in respect of a horizontal and a vertical
plane, as in PL. II. figs. 20, 21, 22. This is rather a trouble-
some process, and is apt to produce a complex diagram.
Generally, it is enough to give the whole breadth or width of a
series of moldings, which is simple and easy when they lie in
one plane, as in PL. III. fig. 1, an Early English doorway at
Louth. The depth to which hollows are sunk from the surface
of any plane may readily be added, as PL. VIII. fig. 3,

By adding the measurements of all the parts, any inaccuracy
of proportion resulting from a hasty sketch will readily be recti-
fied, should the molding be adopted in practical architecture.
For example, in PL. XVII. fig. 3, it is obvious that the double
groove or hollow chamfer in the centre cuts off a less portion
of the projecting angle than the diagram represents ; for the
line marked 3| inches is nearly as long as that marked 7. In
this, as in other cases, the measurement serves to correct the
drawing.

For the sake of neatness, in copying moldings, it is well to
adopt uniformly the plan, already pointed out, of drawing the
outer wall-line parallel with the bottom of the page, and the
soffit parallel to the side. The same side of a doorway or a
capital should be taken in all cases where it is possible, to avoid
the natural awkwardness of presenting to view the position of
moldings drawn promiscuously right or left.

The practice of copying moldings by the eye alone, is of the
greatest importance in acquiring a sound acquaintance with the
subject. It is indeed, as before stated, indispensable. The eye
becomes perfectly familiar with every kind and variety by fre-

COPYING MOLDINGS.

29

quently contemplating new examples and collections previously
made ; and thus a great degree of accuracy is in time attained,
and a perfect copy of the ordinary and plainer moldings, with
their measurements, may be made in two or three minutes. In
this way also moldings which are quite out of reach may be
sketched very tolerably at the distance of many feet, if the
planes in which they lie be carefully attended to.

Though the student should always carry his sketch-book and
pencil with him, he must be careful not to neglect to get full-
sized details whenever he has the opportunity, as they will tend
very much to correct the eye for sketching, and frequently show
important deviations from geometric forms which are liable to
be overlooked at first sight.

These two points, the planes in which moldings lie, and the
relative proportions of the parts, must be invariably observed,
and the practised eye will seize the outline almost instinctively,
with a very close approximation to truth. It may be remarked,
that in the example given by Professor Willis, in his " Archi-
tectural Nomenclature," from the Journal of William of
Worcester, the plane is marked by a
line, as in the illustrations of the pre-
sent work.

In copying the moldings of capitals,
measure the depth from the top of the
abacus to the under side of the neck-
molding ; and the projection of the
abacus over the shaft. Both these
are easily taken by dropping a small
plummet (a string with a bullet is
best) from the outer edge of the abacus,
and applying the foot rule and triangle.

It has been observed that edges are
frequently chamfered at an angle of forty-five degrees. But
as this is by no means invariably the case, it is advisable in

30 MANUAL OF GOTHIC MOLDINGS.

every instance to put it to the test. There are several simple
and effective means of doing this. One is by bending the
measure at its joint (PL. II. fig. 15), by which the angle can
be accurately transferred to the paper, however small the copy
may be : the only difficulty is in the hinge of the rule, which
will prevent it being placed close against the wall. Another
by the use of a triangle of wood or brass, with angles of forty-
five degrees, by applying the hypotenuse of which to the
chamfer the two sides will be respectively parallel to the wall-
plane and the soffit-plane, if the chamfer is at an angle of
forty-five, but not otherwise. See PL. V. fig. 12. The best
plan, however, is to measure along the wall and soffit-planes,

which may generally be done very
[-•; easily by placing the rule against one

plane and sighting the end of it to a
■•<„;>. line with the other, as in diagram,
c 1 where the rule is placed against one

plane, the end just meeting the other,
and thus either the dimension a b or b c may be obtained ; and
the enclosed angle being a right angle, the direction of the
chamfer is obtained.

If, in addition, the cross measurement be taken, the splay
will be obtained correctly, whether the walls are at right angles
or not.

Full-sized moldings are reduced by the use of the well-
known instrument called the Pentagraph. All other methods
require both time and care. Every member may be reduced
separately by means of the compass and scale ; or circles
may be drawn, inclosing certain portions of the copy, and re-
peated of the proportionate size in the same positions on the
reduced drawing.

EARLY MOLDINGS IN GENERAL.

31

SECTION IV.

OF EARLY MOLDINGS IN GENERAL.

Having thus far explained the general principles and the
methods of drawing moldings in section, the theory of the
first formations of moldings must now be considered more
fully.

The first and rudest attempts at molding which are found in
this country, are the rough and coarsely chiselled members,
generally semi-cylindrical, such as occur in the Ante-Norman
chancel-arch at Wittering, Northamptonshire, PL. III. fig. 10,
the balustre shafts in the tower of St. Benet's, Cambridge, and
other churches of that date, to which must be added the very
curious and antique attempt at a molded
architrave on the impost of the belfry-arch
at Barnack. This last example, an exact
parallel to which occurs in a doorway of
the Bomanesque palace of Theodoric at
Bavenna ; and, indeed, the very nature
of the case would lead us to conclude that
the earliest element arose out of a desire
to relieve, by coarse irregular channelling,
a plain fiat surface. A square-edged rib

10 From Mr. Gaily Knight's

easily became a semi-cylindrical bowtell, " Italian p Architecture,"
by first chamfering, and then removing

indefinitely the remaining angles. Thus, for instance, Norman
string-courses often consist of a square projecting fillet, with
the angles chamfered off, so as to form a semi-hexagonal
projection. St. Sepulchre's Church, Cambridge, affords, both
in its groin-ribs and pier-arches, an excellent illustration of
the first idea of forming rounds by removing edges, and of"

32 MANUAL OP GOTHIC MOLDINGS.

setting off the parts thus rounded, by sinking a small channel
or furrow on each side a little below the surface. Thus, then, a
square- edged arch, with its sub-arch or soffit-rib, was either
worked into rounds at each angle, PL. IV. fig. 1, or into
pointed rolls, as fig. 2, which is an arch at Keymerston, Nor-
folk, circa 1200 ; or some edges were chamfered, others worked
into rolls, and the sub-arch cut away into a broad semi-cylin-
drical rib, as in fig. 4, which represents a semi-Norman arch at
Barholme, Lincolnshire, and PL. XXI. fig. 1. PL. IV. figs. 7
and 8, are groin-ribs of common profile in Norman work ; the
one from Glastonbury, circa 1200 ; the other from Peter-
borough, Early Norman : both clearly and satisfactorily ex-
hibiting the formation of the roll-molding or bowtell.

The deep rounded hollow (as contrasted with the mere notch),
by which the contrast of light and shade was obtained, was an
after- thought, which was not developed till the Early English
period, when it was carried to an extrava-
gant excess, so that roll-moldings were
extensively undercut or attached only by
a small neck of stone ; thus having the
effect of a series of detached arches or
ribs, rising in succession above and behind
each other, each independent and uncon-
nected, the eye being unable to penetrate
to the depth of the dark hollow. PL. IV. fig. 5, is a very
Early English pier-arch, at Barnack, in which the first appear-
ance of the deep hollows may be traced.

The accompanying example of a similar kind is engraved
in p. 85 of Professor Willis's " Canterbury," where the contrast
between the Norman edge-mold and Transition bowtell with
side hollows is well shown.

It might appear probable that the true origin of the deep
three-quarter circular hollow must be looked for in the wish to
form a cutting inwards, at the point of the interior angle,

EARLY MOLDINGS IN GENERAL.

33

corresponding to the bowtell at the edge or point of the
exterior rectangle of the sub-arches, as in diagram and PL. VI.
fig. 10, and PL. VII. fig. 7. From these

light, hollow and prominent. Still, this
inner hollow at the angle is not very observable in the earliest
arches, but is rather characteristic of the work of the first two
Edwards, so that this view is hardly correct.

The roll-molding being once established, it became natural
to multiply it as an ornamental feature to an unlimited extent ;
and to prevent sameness of effect many modifications in the
forms of the projecting members were introduced, as well as
considerable variety in the size and depth of the alternating
hollows. Now, multiplication naturally implies reduction in
size ; so that, in place of two or three heavy round moldings
placed at the angles only, and without hollows of any great
depth, we find a whole series of minute and skilfully diversified
members, designed not on any exact geometric principle, but
regulated by taste, effect, and no doubt, to a certain extent, by
caprice. We may suppose the architect to have drawn on a
board or a stone, with a free hand, the outline to be followed
in working out the hollows ; and PL. IV. fig. 3, represents
such a stone, with the profile scratched or marked on its sur-
face. The templet, being applied to every stone to be worked,
afforded exactly the same shape for each, so that the pieces,
when put together, coincided with perfect accuracy.

Deeply recessed archways consist of several courses of molded
stones, each order, or sub-arch, having its own independent
construction, and each joint being overlapped by the stone next
to the back of it. When the moldings are meagre, the arch

two points both the hollow and the
bowtells may have been extended each
way, till no space was left unoccupied,
and thus a great width was covered with
minute members, alternately dark and

34 MANUAL OF GOTHIC MOLDINGS.

generally consists of a single row of voussoirs. In taking a
molding of the former kind, it is essential to mark the joints of
the different courses.

The grouping and multiplying of members was greatly facili-
tated in its development by the Gothic principle of distributing
weights and thrusts under a number of different supports.
Thus each group of arch-molding in an Early English door-
way is borne by a detached jamb-shaft below the impost. In
later times, the shafts were engaged in the wall, and at the
latest period the roll-moldings were often continuous, but with
small pseudo-capitals and bases attached after the manner of
real columns.

The Norman architects never got much beyond the plain
cylindrical edge-roll and shallow hollow, similar to the annexed
example from Coton. They paid so much atten-
B tion to surface sculpture and shallow ornamental

JCj work in the fiat faces of their arches, that the

notion of alternate hollows and projections does
not appear to have been fully comprehended by
them, or, if so, was found to be incompatible
with the enrichment by detail in Bas-relief. It was reserved
for the period of Transition to effect this.

The invention of the pointed bowtell, contemporaneously with
the general use of the pointed arch, opened the way to a great
number of new forms, all more or less referable to this common
origin, and all used with the most refined taste in varying the
members of complex Early English grouping. The first and
by far the most important of these is the roll-and-fillet,
PL. II. fig. 4, and PL. I. fig. 20, a doorway in the precinct of
Lincoln Cathedral. The introduction of this new feature may
be said to have wrought a complete revolution in the system of
molding. It is the key-note of almost all the subsequent forma-
tions. It may be defined to be a fiat bead set ribwise on the
surface of a roll-molding, at first with a square under-edge, as

EARLY MOLDINGS IN GENERAL. 35

PL. I. fig. 18, afterwards, and most commonly, with a slope or
ogee curvature, as in PL. II. fig. ] 7, a groin-rib from Tintern
Abbey. It is not certain at what precise period, or from what
cause, the fillet was first added to the cylindrical bowtell. It
was itself a common enough feature down from Classic times,
and in Norman work was used in the abaci of capitals, in strings,
and in other places. A certain analogy may be traced in the
annexed examples ; and that from Selby is simply the ordinary
roll-and-filiet used as a string.
An example of a single side fillet
to the roll is figured PL. I. fig.
12. This appears to be an acci-
dental one, being merely the un-
cut Surface Of the Wall. Forms Ovolo and St. Sepulchre's, Selby ;

Fillet. Cambridge. String in Nave.

of this kind have probably first

suggested the use of fillets with the roll. Or it may be that
the idea of a surface-line having been suggested by the
pointed bowtell, the fine feather edge was either cut off
(PL. IV. fig. 9), or was throated or widened, so as to produce
a more prominent effect. As, however, it will be found in
the earliest, examples that this fillet frequently falls in a line
with the chamfer-plane, as in PL. II. figs. 9, 15, 19, and in
fig. 6, the north doorway at Cherry Hinton, it may possibly
have been left as a standing portion of the uncut surface ; a
view which is certainly borne out by the general analogy of
molding. The position of diagonal projection is undoubtedly
the ordinary one throughout the Early English period ; and
the fillet is not often found coincident with either of the other
planes, as in fig-. 8, a pier-arch from Cherry Hinton, till towards
the end of the thirteenth century. Still, examples are not
wanting in much earlier molding ; so that it is not intended to
insist on this theory of its origin.

One fact is worthy of notice in the use of the roll-and-fillet ;
that it commonly occurs in alternation with the pointed bowtell ;

d 2

86 MANUAL OF GOTHIC MOLDINGS.

i

whence it would appear to be merely a variety of the latter,
introduced for the sake of contrasting and diversifying the
members of a group. For example, PL. II. fig. 5, has in the
central group a filleted roll between two pointed ones. So also
fig. 8 ; and the juxtaposition of these two forms may be noticed
in many other instances.

Another plausible account of the origin of the roll-and-fillet
may be offered. Its occurrence in early groin-ribs cannot have
escaped the notice of the observer. Perhaps, indeed, the earliest
instances of its use may be traced to the obvious propriety of
forming sharp and hard edge-lines instead of mere round mem-
bers in positions in which, from their distance, the eye would
otherwise have an ill-defined and imperfect outline. Again, in
mitering, or joining rolls at right angles, as well as in making
them die into or spring out of plain surfaces, the addition of
the fillet presents important advantages in neatness of con-
struction.

But all these are mere conjectures. The author has devoted
considerable pains and attention to the discovery of the true
origin of this very important feature, but without satisfying
himself with any of the theories given above, though the first
seems the most probable.

EARLY ENGLISH MOLDINGS.

37

SECTION V.

OF EARLY ENGLISH MOLDINGS.

FROM THE ACCESSION OF RICHARD I. TO DEATH OF HENRY III.
A.D. 1189 TO 1272.

The characteristics of the moldings of this style may be de-
fined as deep undercut hollows between prominent members,
which comprise a great variety of pointed and filleted bowtells,
clustered, isolated, and repeated at certain intervals ; a great
depth or extent of molded surfaces ; and the general arrange-
ment in rectangular faces, as shown in PL. II. fig. 5. The
hollows are seldom true circles :

and, like the projecting parts, they qNE rO

assume a great number of capricious
forms. PL. III. figs. 2 and 3, would
alone be quite sufficient to convey
to the eye an idea of the general ^^C^^
method. The first is the belfry-arch
at Plymouth, the second the pier-
arches in the choir of Ely Cathedral.
Both were taken with the cymagraph,
and are reduced to a scale of half an inch to a foot.

The annexed section will also serve as an illustration of the
ordinary forms of Early English moldings.

Early English moldings may
be said to comprise the following
members : —

1. The plain bowtell or edge-
roll

2. The pointed bowtell.

3. The roll-and-fillet.

4. The scroll-molding (rare).

Early English Arch, Ripon
Cathedral.

38

MANUAL OF GOTHIC MOLDINGS.

5. Angular forms, consisting of chamfered ridges and inter-
vening projections, of irregular character.

The other forms chiefly consist of modifications of the roll-
and-fillet, which are so capricious as almost to defy any attempt
to assign them distinct names and formations. It will be
right, therefore, briefly to point out some of the most com-
monly occurring varieties, leaving a more particular investiga-
tion to the student's own exertions.

The roll-and-triple-fillet (PL. I. fig. 25 ; PL. IV. fig. 3, A.)
is much used in the more advanced buildings of *
the style, and was the favourite form during the
reigns of the first two Edwards. The ordinary
roll-and-fillet projecting from a ridge (PL. VI. fig. 5 ; PL. VII.
fig. 12), each side of which is undercut by a deep hollow,
naturally produces, and therefore probably suggested, this
compound molding. It will be observed in PL. V. figs. 5, 6, 9 ;
PL. VII. figs. 7, 8 ; PL. II. figs. 18 and 19. A plain bowtell
or roll very often stands forward upon a short ridge or neck
in Transition moldings, the edges being
sharp on each side, in consequence of a
slight hollow immediately below. This is
of frequent occurrence even in semicir-
cular arches, and may be found in door-
ways of that kind in many of our abbeys,
as at Fountains. It is illustrated in p. 90
of Professor Willis's Canterbury (fig. 37, pier-arches of the
choir). Sometimes only one side has a
fillet attached (PL. I. figs. 12, 23).
Sometimes there are two fillets, one at
the top, the other on the side, as in the
cut from Kipon, and PL. V. fig. 3, and
PL. XVIII. fig. 1. PL. II. figs. 11 and
13, are varieties of very frequent occur-
rence. PL. IV. fig. 12, is a form often found in labels, as fig. 13,

Doorway, Fountains Abbey,

Ripon Cathedral.

EAELY ENGLISH MOLDINGS.

39

both from Lincoln Minster ; the latter also illustrates the fillet as
it were depressed into the roll. Fig. 11 is the chancel doorway
at Ludborough, Lincolnshire, which shows some other varieties;
in fact, the combination of the roll-and-fillet having been once
suggested, they seem to have been used together with the
utmost licence. Fig. 15 is a groin-rib from Furness Abbey.
PL. III. figs. 4 and 7, are groin-ribs from Kobertsbridge
Abbey ; 5 and 6 are fragments from Tintern and St. Mary's
Abbey, York. Fig. 9 is the arch-mold of a double piscina with
its capital from Histon, near Cambridge.

The members in PL. IV. fig. 11, fall wholly on the chamfer-
plane, as in PL. III. fig. 1, which is seldom the case in this
style. Three pointed rolls placed together, somewhat in the
form of a fleur-de-lis,* form a combination of very frequent
occurrence. It may often be found between the detached shafts
of large doorways, as at Peterborough and Ely, and indeed in
any position, with many minor varieties of shape. PL. IV.
fig. 21, and PL. II. fig. 5, are examples. In some cases it
closely approaches the character of the roll-and-triple-fillet, as
PL. V. fig. 6, the beautiful Decorated window-jamb at North-
borough, Northamptonshire.

In Decorated work the fillet became extremely broad, PL. IV.
fig. 19, often as much as three, or even four inches. In this
case it may be said to lose its original character, especially in
clustered piers, where it very often occurs, as in those to the
east of the octagon at Ely. But in Early English it is almost
always a narrow edge-line. If set square on the roll, it is
generally a sign of early work. See the outline diagrams in

* There is sometimes so close a resemblance to the head of a fleur-de-
lis in this complex molding, that it is difficult to disconnect the idea of
the one from the other. An example is given, full size, in PL. XIII. of
Potter's Monastic Eemains, Tintern Abbey, — a work, we may here observe,
which is quite invaluable in showing the curves and geometric formations
of early moldings, and which every lover of Gothic architecture ought to
possess. It contains an immense number of moldings of the finest era
and the richest design.

40

MANUAL OF GOTHIC MOLDINGS.

PL. IV. The depressed and elongated forms on each side of
fig. 11 are principally found in later buildings, the first in
Decorated, the latter in perpendicular.

It has been before stated that a great degree of licence is
observable in the forms of Early English roll-and-fillet mold-
ings, in respect of size, shape, and composition, and that geo-
metric accuracy was avoided in a rather remarkable manner ;
the irregular shape, and the freely undulating curve, having
been commonly preferred. Almost every conceivable modifica-
tion of the plain roll, peaked, depressed, elliptical, grooved at
the end, might be found and catalogued ^ by a careful observer.

An important form, generally considered distinctive of Deco-
rated, but not very uncommon in advanced Early English
work,* is the scroll-molding ; so called from its resemblance
to a roll of thick paper, the outer edge of which overlaps upon
the side exposed to view. It may be described as a cylinder,
the under half of which is withdrawn, or shifted a little behind
the upper. It is almost universally used in the abacus and
neck of Decorated capitals, and very often in strings and base-
moldings.

It is certain that this form was known and in use even in the
pure lancet architecture of 1200-1240. PL. I. fig. 19, from
St. Benet's, Lincoln, is a proof of this. It also occurs, per-
haps in an accidental or undeveloped form, in PL. II. fig. 3.
It is represented in PL. IV. fig. 14, an Early Decorated door-
way at Yaxley, Hunts, and in figs. 11 and 16, — the latter an
arcade in Lincoln Minster. Here is seen the unusual com-
bination of the scroll-molding and the side-fillet. PL. VII.

* It occurs, for example, in the moldings of the very elaborate triplet
at the east end of Castle Eising Church, PL. XVIII. fig. 6, engraved in
PL. VIII. of Mr. Bowman's account of that church in his Specimens of
Ecclesiastical Architecture. The presence of the scroll-molding in any
elaborate group marks its approach towards the Geometric age. See
PL. XVII. fig. 6, which, together with the contiguous sections, figs. 4
and 9, represent the jambs of the immense Early Decorated and Geometric
windows in the south aisle of Grantham Church.

EARLY ENGLISH MOLDINGS.

41

fig. 5, is a fragment from Kivaulx Abbey. Fig. 7, the rich and
beautifully molded doorway at Northborough, circa a.d. 1270,
exhibits the scroll form on the interior order.

Antiquaries are not agreed as to the origin of this molding.
It may perhaps be regarded as a roll-and-fillet with one side
left uncut, either because it was removed from sight, as in
capitals, or afforded a more effective drip in strings and weather-
ings, where it most constantly occurs. The shadowed edge-
line was presented by the scroll-molding as well as by the roll-
and-fillet ; and the principles of effect which suggested both

Roche Abbey. Byland. Hexham.

forms are probably identical. But it is more probable that it
was derived from the pointed bowtell. It may be traced from
one form to the other through such gradual changes, as to leave
but little doubt on the subject.

The earliest pointed bowtell was simply the new form of the
pointed arch used as a

molding (as at Koche \ ~\ Bfiih^

W ^^^^^^ riii>
and Byland), but this \ ^/^^^^^m

was soon modified by H < I ^^P^P

having a slight sink- ^

Barnwell, Cambridge. Ely.

ing close to the edge,

so as to make it a little sharper, as in these examples from
Barnwell and Ely. This form has been called the keel molding,
from its likeness to the section of a ship show-
ing the form of the keel. When worked in
with more deeply cut moldings, it stood more
isolated, with a long neck ; and, probably from Rivauix.
the combination of the two forms, we find it occasionally turning

42

MANUAL OF GOTHIC MOLDINGS.

the edge to one side, as in PL. XVIII. figs. 1 and 10, from
which we immediately obtain the form in fig. 6, which is a
regular scroll-molding ; and in this case it will be observed that
it pairs off with a pointed bowtell.

The annexed examples, also, from St. Mary's Abbey, York,
M and Tintern Abbey, show

how closely allied the two
forms are ; and those in
the choir arches of Ri-
vaulx Abbey are an early
example, in a position in
which the pointed bow-
tell might naturally be
expected.

Though the under edge of the scroll-molding is usually
rounded, it is frequently to be found cut square where sharpness
of shadow was desired ; but this can hardly be considered as a
criterion of date, as it is to be found both in early work, as
at Warmington, Northants, and down to the middle of the
m . fourteenth century, as at

St. Mary's, York.

Tintern.

r

\

Elsworth, near Cambridge.
The scroll-edge is some-
times, though rarely, in-
verted, so that the with-
drawn surface is placed
uppermost, as in some of
the bases at Tintern Abbey
(PL. XIV. fig. 33).
Two rolls-and-fillets conjoined at their bases,
so that their respective fillets are at right angles M
to each other, constitute the double-ogee, or H
double-ressant, as it was anciently called,* — J

Warmington, St. Michael's, Elsworth,
Northants. Cambridge. Cambridge.

i

j

* Professor Willis says this molding is sometimes
called a brace, irom its resemblance to a printer's bracket

(History

EARLY ENGLISH MOLDINGS.

43

one of the commonest moldings of the Decorated and Perpen-
dicular styles. It is rare in Early English, and apparently the
result of accident rather than intention when it does occur, as
in PL. IV. fig. 12. PL. VII. fig. 1, is the west doorway of
Llandaff Cathedral, of pure Early English detail. The capitals
which bear the two moldings in question are marked in outline.
PL. IV. fig. 6, is a Decorated molding of sufficiently common
occurrence (as in the belfry archway at Trumpington), where the
shafts which carry the capitals are set together so as to form the
double-ogee. And the same may be constantly observed in the
common arrangement of Early English and Decorated piers,
PL. V. figs. 14 and 15. See also PL. II. fig. 17. ■

Early English arch-moldings are so easy to distinguish
from all others, that it is not necessary either to say more in
explanation of their peculiarities, or to give a great number
of examples. They are by far the most difficult of all to copy
with exactness, from the irregular and capricious forms of the
curves and undercuttings ; and their great extent, often many
feet across, renders it an extremely tedious process to draw any
of the rich and complex examples on a reduced scale. The
numerous deep and dark hollows constitute the most charac-
teristic difference between the moldings of this and those of the
succeeding style, in which most of the forms already enumerated
will be found to recur. But the extravagant display of deep
cavernous undercutting is lost in Decorated moldings. "We
there find a hollow of three-quarters of a circle, accurately
formed with the compasses, in the angle of every receding sub-
arch, as in PL. VI. fig. 2, the west doorway at Hingham,
Norfolk ; fig. 11, the inner doorway of the south porch at
Deopham ; fig. 12, the same from Benington, Lincolnshire ;
and PL. XVII. fig. 3, from Bottisham, Cambridgeshire. And
these hollows must be particularly observed as the real division

of Winchester Cathedral, p. 60, Proceedings of the Archaeological Insti-
tute, 1845.)

44 MANUAL OF GOTHIC MOLDINGS.

of the orders of moldings when they all lie on the chamfer-plane.
The Decorated hollows are usually of larger size than the Early
English ; and there is this general difference in their use, that
in the Decorated they divide groups, in the Early English indi-
vidual members.

The exquisite skill, taste, and patient labour invariably
evinced in the working of Early English moldings, are truly
admirable. The ingenuity that was never at a loss in any
difficulty of finish or constructive irregularity, and the minute-
ness with which even the most concealed and darkened parts
were executed, are circumstances of much interest, and show a
love for the art above the sordid considerations of minimum
cost. The deepest hollows are all as cleanly and perfectly cut
as the most prominent and conspicuous details ; and in the
village church as much so as in the most glorious cathedral.
An Early English doorway is often a wonderful piece of art,
however little it may attract the attention of ordinary observers.
It is most pleasing to notice the long trails of dog-tooth lurk-
ing in the dark furrow of a label or chancelled recess ; to see
the end of some inconvenient member got rid of by throwing a
flower across the point where it suddenly stops or dies into the
wall ; to admire the floriated boss and the foliaged capital in-
truding their luxuriance upon the moldings and hollows, as if
they had overgrown their original and proper limits. How
beautifully, too, the knots of pierced and hanging leaves extend
like some petrified garland or bower of filigree-work round the
arch, dividing the plainer moldings into groups, and almost
imparting life and vegetation to the very stones ! There are
abundance of doorways of this style which exhibit the most
delightful varieties in their forms and groupings ; always, yet
never, the same. Some examples occur at Bolton and Furness
Abbeys, whose arch-moldings extend five or six feet in width.
The west fronts of several of our cathedrals have Early English
doorways of amazing magnificence. The entrance doorway of

EAELY ENGLISH MOLDINGS.

45

the Chapter House at Lichfield is a very fine example of the
molding of this style. But almost every cathedral and every
ruined abbey will supply good specimens, so that it would be
useless to multiply illustrations. Plate XVIII. fig. 3, is a
doorway in the cloisters at Peterborough ; fig. 2, a doorway
immediately opposite, in the south aisle of the nave, both on a
scale of half an inch to one foot. Fig. 5 is a ruined doorway
at Eivaulx Abbey. Fig. 6 is from the east window of Castle
Rising Church;* fig. 7, from Beaulieu Abbey, t the southern
triplet of the Kefectory ; fig. 8, an arch-mold from the choir of
Ripon Minster; fig. 9 is borrowed from Brandon's Analysis of
Gothic Architecture.

These latter examples (6, 7, 10) show the method of insert-
ing the tooth ornament in, or rather across, hollows. Many of
the more elaborate groups of Early English moldings contain
several successive trails of this decoration, often of different
sizes, shape, and planes of projection. In the very beautiful
west doorway at Binham Priory, Norfolk, a curious variety of
the dog-tooth is set in hollows of such depth, that the eye
cannot fathom the point of attachment.

* This and fig. 10 from the same, are taken from Mr. Bowman's illus-
trations of that church, PL. VIII.

f From Weale's Quarterly Papers, Vol. II. PL. II.

4G

MANUAL OP GOTHIC MOLDINGS.

SECTION VI.

OF DECORATED MOLDINGS.
DURING THE REIGNS OF THE FIRST THREE EDWARDS, 1272-1377.

The student will bear in mind that the details of Decorated
moldings are in great measure identical with those of the pre-
ceding style, with the addition of some new members, and
several important modifications of grouping. And the latter
will be found to produce an entirely different effect, though in
description the distinction may appear very trifling. The eye
must be familiarized to the profile and general appearance of
moldings of different dates, so that, without dismembering, and,
as it were, analyzing the group, or examining the separate
details, it may discern at a glance the style to which any
example belongs. And this may be done with a considerable
degree of certainty by practice and attention ; though it can
hardly be asserted that all the differences of style admit of being
reduced to unvarying and infallible rules. Sometimes moldings
are met with of much earlier or later date than we should have
expected from other characteristic marks in the building ; and
there are not a few instances in which, without the aid of such
marks, it would be impossible to say whether a molding is of
the fourteenth or the fifteenth century. In fact, this science
does not appear capable of more than general treatment ;
though there is quite enough of uniform system to enable us to
apprehend the broad distinctive principles which obtained in the
different periods.

Generally, then, much greater geometrical precision may be
observed in drawing both the hollows and the projecting mem-
bers than prevailed in the preceding style. Segments of circles,
both concave and convex, were much used, and there was a

DECORATED MOLDINGS. 47

softness of blending, a delicacy and gentleness of grouping, an
avoidance of strong and violent contrasts of light and shade,
which imparted a more pleasing, though much less striking,
effect.

Early English arch-moldings have sometimes a monotonous
effect, which is but imperfectly remedied by the free use of
quaint, irregular, and fanciful members. The reason is, first,
that frequently the numerous members do not vary materially
in size ; and, secondly, that each stands
between two deep hollows, so that the entire
group looks like a mere alternation of dark
and light, repeated with little change several
times over. Now the composition of Deco-
rated moldings is essentially different. For Decorated roU - aad - fiUet
not only do the members vary in size, but also in kind; the
deep hollows are principally confined to the inner angles, and
there is no extravagant isolation of small and unimportant
parts. The roll-and-fillet is formed with as little undercutting
as possible, as in PL. XVII. figs. 2, 3, 9, 10 : in fact, only
just enough is hollowed away at the sides to develope the out-
line.

In the Geometric-Decorated age (that is, in the reign of the
first two Edwards), the moldings of arches and jambs differ
very slightly from those of pure Early English ; so slightly,
indeed, that they cannot alone be taken as decisive of this or
that date. It was not until the Flowing-Decorated era (that is,
during the reign of Edward III.), that these moldings took the
characteristic turn which brought about the surrender of the
roll-and-fillet, and its many varieties, for the ogees, bowtells,
and wide shallow casements of the Perpendicular period.

Rich Decorated moldings are of rather rare occurrence. A
great many of the finest buildings in this style scarcely afford
as good examples of molding as small and humble churches of
the Early English age. Very often plain chamfers are used in

4S

MANUAL OF GOTHIC MOLDINGS.

all the windows, doorways, and pier-arches ; while minor parts,
such as bases, capitals, sedilia, sepulchral recesses, and the
like, have fine and elaborate details. It is in this kind of work
that we must look for the best moldings in the Decorated style.
In arches, doorways, and windows, the plain chamfer of two
orders (PL. I. fig. 5) is perhaps most commonly found.
Windows especially are often singularly meagre in their mold-
ings, however rich their tracery may be. The monials stand
near the outer surface of the wall, and separated from or re-
cessed behind it only by a single order with a plain or hollow
chamfer, as PL. VII. figs. 20 and 21. Frequently, indeed, the
tracery of good Decorated windows stands quite flush with the
wall, so that the jamb-moldings are, as it were, entirely
omitted.* And again, the monials and tracery often consist of
merely chamfered planes, without any edge-lines to relieve
them ; and so, PL. VII. fig. 20, the east window at Trump-
ington. Fig. 19, a window at Hingham, Norfolk, is one degree
richer than this, two orders being introduced in the monial,
though of equally plain character.

There appear to be three distinct kinds to which Decorated
moldings may generally be referred ; though there are many

L..l_

examples which it might be difficult
to assign to any one of them.
These are : —

1. The plain or hollow chamfer

of two or more orders,
which, properly
speaking, is only the
step preparatory to
molding, and stopping
short of that ulterior

process.

* In the churches of Norfolk and Suffolk this is the rule, and not the
exception, from the scarcity of stone in those parts.

DECORATED MOLDINGS.

49>

2. Roll-and-fillet moldings, with hollows between each
member, nearly resembling, in principle and arrangement, the
Early English method, as in diagrams PL. V. fig. 12 — a door-
way at Attleborough, Norfolk, and PL. XVII. figs. 4, 6, 8.

3. A succession of double ogees, divided by hollows of three-
quarters of a circle, as PL. VI. figs. 9, 11, 12,
14. PL. II. fig. 16, is similar in kind, and both ||W
of these are exceedingly common moldings in
this style. It is not unusual to find these two
varieties combined, as in PL. VII. fig. c — the
belfry-arch at Deopham, Norfolk. And as they rarely occupy
any other position than the chamfer-plane, it seems proper to>
regard them as virtually the plain chamfered edges of class 1,
slightly relieved from their flat and naked form. Their distinc-
tive peculiarity consists in the repetition of the same members
in each order, though, as we have observed, other varieties of
the chamfer are sometimes intermixed. Thus PL. VI. fig. 11,
might be described in words thus: — "A double-ogee order
between two hollow chamfer orders, divided by three-quarter
hollows ; all lying in the chamfer-plane of 45° ; total width
across, twenty-three inches."

The plain or hollow chamfer is extremely common in all
jambs and archways (especially if they be continuous, or have
no imposts or jamb-shafts), in the Early Decorated style. The
inner angle which divides the orders (and which has been called
the re-entering angle), is either left solid, or cut into a deep
three-quarter hollow. Of this latter arrangement, which pro-
duces a very bold and good effect, it might be difficult to name
a better example than the west doorway of St. Mary's, Ely,.
Here the chamfers are hollow, or quarter-circles. In such
cases there are often trails of ball-flowers, quatrefoil paterae,,
roses, or other ornamental leaf-work disposed at regular inter-
vals, and repeated in rows in two or more of the chamfers*
See PL. VI. fig. 2 ; PL. VII. fig. 10.

E

50 MANUAL OF GOTHIC MOLDINGS.

The second kind is generally, hut not always, early in the
style ; and it is perhaps the most perfect and beautiful of all.
The members in this case usually fall in squares (that is, on
the wall-planes and soffit-planes in succession), as in the west
doorway at Trumpington Church, PL. VII. fig. 3. PL. XVII.
fig. 3, is from the south porch of Bottisham Church, near Cam-
bridge. Fig. 5 is from a doorway at Lang-
jg,, ham, Kutland, of the Geometric age. Fig. 8

I is from the beautiful Decorated archway of

~\ A ^ the south porch at Over, Cambridgeshire.

ifPlll Fig. 10 is a window-jamb, from Grantham
wmdow-jamb, Over. Church. Sometimes moldings of this class
are combined with those of the third, as
PL. V. fig. 11, the priest's door at Hingham, Norfolk; PL.
XVII. fig. 7, a doorway at Burfield, Suffolk ; PL. XX. fig. 17,
the chancel door at Willingham, near Cambridge ; and PL. V.
fig. 1, a monument at Boston. PL. VII. figs, 7, 8, 12, are all
of this second kind.

There is, however, a perceptible difference in the shape of the
Early English and the Decorated roll-and-fillet. In the later
style the fillet is broader, not set square on the roll,
^llyil^ and the neck is wider from the hollows between the
single members, being less deeply undercut. The
capricious and irregular forms of the earlier style
are no longer found ; the roll-and-triple-fillet, ar-
ranged upon rectangular lines, is generally one
member of the group, and the gently bulging ogee
curvature predominates throughout. In many in-
stances the roll-and-fillet forms a member of very large size,
as PL. XX. fig. 15, a monument in the choir of Bolton
Abbey.

While moldings of the second kind are generally borne by
jamb-shafts, as in the Early English style (though now engaged
in, and not detached from, the wall), those of the first and

DECOEATED MOLDINGS. 51

third are almost always continuous,* except in pier-arches,
where they constantly occur, in which case they are stopped by
the capitals. Thus, PL. VII. fig. 4, is a pier-arch at Trump-
ington ; PL. VI. fig. 3, one at Hingham. Sometimes a series
of four or five of these together, as PL. VI. fig. 12, gives a very
deep and rich effect to a doorway. It is not uncommon to find
one member of a double ogee considerably larger than the
other, or those of one order of different size from the others. It
must be particularly observed that in the third class of Deco-
rated moldings the fillets on each side of the three-quarter
hollows (i.e. the untouched portions of the rectangular nook)
almost invariably stand at right angles with each other, the
principle of which is shown at PL. V. fig. 3, the west doorway
at Attleborough, Norfolk. Exceptions, such as PL. VII. fig. a,
are seldom found in ancient moldings. We may further
observe on PL. V. fig. 3, that if the sides of the re-entering
angle are equal, the chamfer-plane is the diagonal of a square,
that is, it forms an angle of 45\ So, in PL. VII. fig. 2, the
angle of the chamfer-plane is ascertained by measuring the two
sides of th«e central nook. Sometimes the group appears to
have been designed on the principle of a series of squares, as
seen in PL. XVII. fig. 3.

Moldings are either simple or compound. A simple molding
is a plain single form, complete in itself, as a bowtell or three-
quarter round. A compound molding is either composed of
two or more distinct parts, as a roll-and-fillet, a double ogee ; or
involves a profile of reflex or double curvature. This is properly
the character of the ogee itself, which is formed by a segmental
inward curve conjoined continuously with a similar outward
curve. Of the same kind is a very important and universal
Decorated form, which may be called the compound ogee, or the

* In doorways the moldings borne by the jamb-shafts always lie on the

rectangular planes, those which are continuous on the chamfer-planes.

Analysis of Gothic Architecture, p. 68.

E 2

Edge-roll.

Triply filleted roll Half roll-and-
fillet.

52 MANUAL OP GOTHIC MOLDINGS.

wave-molding, from its gently undulating outline.* It is
represented in PL. VII. figs, c, 9, 17, 18, 19, and elsewhere. It
is composed of two ogee curvatures, forming a central
bulge or entasis, sometimes projecting forward beyond
the edges, but usually in the same plane with them.
moidSS' Scarcely any method of molding is so common in, or so
characteristic of, this style, and especially of the Flowing, or later
Decorated, to which era its use was principally confined. It fre-
quently occurs with a hollow between, as PL. VII. fig. 17. The

formation of this detail
may be traced either to
the ordinary edge- roll
being simply somewhat
less undercut, or to the
half of a triply filleted roll, PL. IV. fig. 10, the other half being
considered as undeveloped, or merged in the block ; or to the
insertion of a quarter-shaft into a rectangular nook, the edges at
the points of junction being rounded instead of sharp and abrupt.
The latter is not improbable on the analogy of the earlier and
later (that is, the square and rounded) forms of the roll-and-
fillet. Indeed, the form shown in the accom-
panying outline is sometimes found. It occurs in
the sedilia at Elsworth Church, near Cambridge,
and is represented in the " Guide to the Neigh-
bourhood of Oxford," p. 333, from Garsington
Church; and in PL. XXIV. of Potter's " Buildwas Abbey"

(Early English).
Ik, There are several

modifications of it ;
the edges are either
sharp, as PL. VII.
fig. 17, or there is a

Varieties of wave-molding. »

* Professor Willis calls this the swelled chamfer. Inigo Jones applied
the term wave to the ogee. See Architectural Nomenclature, § 16.

DECORATED MOLDINGS. 53

small width of the chamfer-plane left uncut on each side,
as PL. V. fig. 11 ; PL. XX. fig. 1, a doorway from Landbeach
Church, Cambridgeshire. In this case, the concaves are
sometimes slightly undercut. The former is most common in
Decorated, the latter in Perpendicular. It is so much more
common in Decorated work, that its occurrence may, in default
of other proofs, be taken as a presumptive evidence of the style.
It is also wider and shallower in early than in late work ; that
is, the side hollows are less deep, and the central entasis less
bulging.* Sometimes, indeed, the wavy line is so faint as to
be scarcely different from the plain chamfer, as PL. VII. fig. A.
And sometimes we find nothing more than a fiat surface sunk
between two raised edges. See PL. VII. fig. b, and the
lowest order of fig. 8. This may be termed the sunken
chamfer. It is not of very common occurrence ; a very good
specimen is engraved in the "Oxford Guide," p. 281, from
Headington Church.

Another variety is shown in PL. VII. figs. 13, 16, 23, and
PL. XX. fig. 2, a window-jamb from Quy Church, near Cam-
bridge. This appears to have arisen from cutting down to an
angle, instead of scooping out in an ogee curve, one end of the
member. It is generally a mark of Transition to Perpen-
dicular.

A rare form is exhibited in PL. V. fig. 16. It may be called
a double wave-molding. By cutting the central hollow down
to an angle (as shown in the shaded part), a double ogee would
be the result. This molding occurs in the Decorated belfry-
arch at Stretham, Isle of Ely, and in the east window of the
south aisle at Bottisham, Cambridgeshire, PL. XIX. fig. 3.
A plain bowtell, or a roll-and-fillet, between two wave-mold-

* The formation is shown in PL. XIX. figs. 1 and 2. It will be seen
that the early form involves the equilateral, the later the obtuse triangle.
It is clear from PL. XIX. fig. 5, that this form was not unknown in Early
English architecture. It also occurs, in the form approximating to the
outline diagram in p. 50, in an archway at Croxden Abbey, circa 1240.

54 MANUAL OF GOTHIC MOLDINGS.

ings, is found in Decorated work. PL. XVII. fig. 2, is from
the north porch of Bottisham Church, Cambridgeshire ; fig. 1,
from the outer archway of the south porch (fig. 3 being the
inner) of the same church. In fig. 2, the rolls-and-fillets fall
within, or short of, the rectangular plane, because they would
otherwise have been too large.

The ogee molding is a form so extensively used, and so
difficult to explain fully in its origin and varied relations, that
it is almost impossible to do more than point out its general
and leading characteristics. In respect of its origin, the ogee
curve is so prevalent in the Classic styles, that it might easily
be supposed it was thence imported into the Gothic, were there
not abundant opportunities of self- development presented by
the varieties of the roll -and -fillet. It is believed that the ogee
scarcely, if ever, occurs in Norman architecture, in England at
least, whatever may be the case in the Komanesque edifices in
other countries. Its occasional appearance in the Early English
style has been already mentioned, where, however, it is very
sparingly used. It should be especially noted that whenever
the ogee occurs in Decorated moldings, it always suggests to
the mind the idea of one side of a roll-and-fillet ; the
convex portion being much larger than the concave.
«' In its most ordinary position in a window-jamb, it
actually corresponds to a perfect roll-and-fillet in the
monial, as PL. VII. figs. 9, 10, 11 ; and here it must, of course,
be regarded literally as half of that member. Since, however,
the quirked ogee (see PL. XVI. fig. 2), so common in
Classic edifices, is identical in form with this part of a
monial (fig. 3), it seems extremely difficult to decide
how far the form was introduced from this or that
suggestion. But in this latter case, the earliest forms would
be found of Classic character with the large concave portion,
whereas we can actually trace its gradual formation from the
roll-and-fillet, having at first the roll the predominant portion,

DECORATED MOLDINGS.

55

and the hollow gradually gaining in importance in later work ;
so that it would not perhaps be saying too much to vindicate
for Gothic architecture the self-development of the ogee, rather
than refer it to an imitation of uncongenial Classic details.

The following, therefore, are the principal forms found in
Decorated moldings : —

sant lorymer.

6. Wave- molding, or swelled chamfer.

7. Plain or hollow chamfer.

8. Sunken chamfer, PL. VII. fig. b.

It is difficult to give a name to the form shown in PI. VII.
fig. 16, and perhaps it is not of sufficiently frequent occurrence
to render a particular term desirable.

Other minor varieties might be added of forms which are
principally found in Decorated work. Sometimes a semicircle
sunk in the chamfer-plane is found, as PL. VI. fig. 6, a door-
way at Deopham, Norfolk ; PL. VII. fig. 14, a fragment from
Kivaulx Abbey ; and PL. VI. fig. 13, a very fine archway at
Hardingham, Norfolk; and PL. V. fig. 14, a window at Hing-
ham. So also PL. V. fig. 2. This detail is the most usual
in Transition to Perpendicular, circa 1360—80.

The bowtell, or three-quarter round, is used, but rather
sparingly, in Decorated work ; it was extremely common in
Perpendicular. PL. VII. fig. 18, is a doorway of Transition
date, at Swanton Morley, Norfolk, in which the bowtell occupy-
ing the centre forms an engaged shaft. When this is the case,
the fillet is seldom wanting, except in very advanced work.
But the plain roll appears in PL. V. figs. 1, 3, 5, all of which

1. The roll-and-fillet.

2. Roll-and-triple-fillet.

3. Ogee.

4. Double ogee, or double

ressant.

5. Scroll-molding, or res-

56 MANUAL OF GOTHIC MOLDINGS.

are late in the style.* Sometimes the bowtell is seen in juxta-
position with the sunken semicircle, as in PL. V. figs. 1, 4, 5.

In PL. VII. fig. 6, a window at Fen Stanton, a small tongue-
shaped member projects from the inner side of the principal
roll-and-fillet. This should be noticed as a very characteristic
detail of Decorated moldings of the second class, to which this
example belongs. See also PL. XVII. fig. 5. A combination
■ •extremely common in labels and capitals is shown in PL. XVI.
fig. 48. This occurs also in jambs and arches, as PL. II.
fig. 14.

PL. V. fig. 9, and PL. VI. figs. 14, 15, show the method
of principal and secondary monials. The moldings are, of
course, coincident in every part of the tracery and monials, and
in the corresponding parts or planes of the jamb ; so that, for
shortness' sake, architects generally draw double monials, as
in these examples, merged into one another. Thus the outer
edge represents the actual profile of the jamb, which, as being
identical in detail, may of course be also taken to represent
one side of the monials. In drawing the section of a window-
jamb, the monial-members may be represented by lines across,
parallel with the wall-plane. PL. V. fig. 9, is the inner jamb
of the east window at Heckington ; PL. VI. fig. 14, the same
part of a window in the chancel at Boston ; PL. VI. fig. 15, is
from Stoke Golding, Leicestershire.

When a window has primary and secondary monials, it is
obvious that they carry distinct planes or orders of moldings.
Yet these orders are not always of the same nature as those we
have before described as such, namely, the group of members
constituting the separate sub-arches ; for the face of the smaller
monial often falls within or behind that of the larger only by a
single retiring step, or member of a group. Thus, in PL. VI.

* All the examples in PL. V. are late Decorated. The occurrence of
the small three-quarter round, as in figs. 1, 3, 4, 5, is a sure indication of
approach to Perpendicular.

DECORATED MOLDINGS. 57

fig. 14, both the monials combined carry (properly speaking)
the same order, but different members of it.

The plane in which the outer moldings of the jamb lie is
seldom coincident, as in the last example, with that on which
the monial members are arranged, for this would in most cases
give too great thickness to the monials themselves, the slope
or inclination of which must of course be the same on both
sides of each aperture or light. The difference of inclination
is sometimes very slight, but this point must be carefully
attended to in copying moldings. See PL. VIII. fig. 5 ;
PL. XX. fig. 8.

In Decorated windows, the face of the monials is generally
a flat edge or fillet ; but in some early examples, a roll-
molding is carried all round, and is furnished with small
bases resting on the cill. This roll-tracery is very common
in Perpendicular windows ; and sometimes, as at the west
end of King's College Chapel, it has small stilted bases in the
jamb.

Many Decorated windows have shafts in the jambs and
monials both internally and externally. This produces a very
fine effect, especi-
ally when the pri-
mary monials carry
a triple, the second-
ary a single shaft.
In these cases the
moldings of the
tracery follow the
common law of pier-
arches and shafted
doorways, that is, they are different in section above the
capitals. Ordinary windows, on the other hand, follow the
principle of continuous archways.

The interior arch, or fear-rib, of Early English and Geo-

Sleaford. Wells Cathedral.

58 MANUAL OF GOTHIC MOLDINGS.

metric windows is generally borne by a shaft,* except in very
plain and inexpensive buildings. Shafts, in fact, form a very
essential part in the composition of the more elaborate windows
in these styles. The aisles and clerestory in the nave of St.
Alban's Abbey, and the south choir- aisle of St. Mary's Church,
Stafford, afford most beautiful instances of shafted window-
jambs.

The labels or hood-moldings of the date of Edward I. and
II. are often undercut by a three-quarter circle, sunk in the
surface of the wall, as in PL. VI. figs. 1 and 10, doorways at
Little Ellingham, Norfolk; fig. 8, the north doorway at Hing-
ham ; and fig. 13, at Hardingham. This latter example is un-
usually bold and deep. It measures three feet across from the
outer face of the label to the soffit, and the effect is remarkably
fine. Fig. 5 is the interior of a window-jamb at Sleaford.
Fig. 7 from a monument at Boston, the soffit at a. Fig. 4 is
the molding of the pier-arches in the same church, of unusual
and decidedly early character, though of rather late Decorated
date.

PL. V. fig. 2, is a doorway at Great Ellingham. It closely
resembles PL. VI. fig. 6. Fig. 4 is the inner doorway of the
south porch at Boston. There is a close resemblance in the
composition of this and of fig. 1, a monument in the same
church, betraying the hand of the same artist. This resem-
blance should always be attended to, not only in the same church,
but in the neighbouring edifices, because a strong presumption
of coeval date is thence to be derived. And monuments especially
were so often inserted subsequently, that it is very important
to compare their moldings with other parts of the same church.
The character of these two examples is rather late ; and they
are wiry and poor in their effect, from being cut away too deeply
and widely from the block surface.

* Called anciently, the rear-shaft. Willis's Architectural Nomencla-
ture, p. 57.

DECORATED MOLDINGS.

50

PL. V. fig. 5, is from a fine Decorated tomb at Ewerby
Church, Lincolnshire ; a noble structure, which almost rivals
its immediate neighbour, the celebrated St. Andrew's, Hecking-
ton. This molding is a good and effective composition. It is
shown in perspective, to illustrate the difference in appearance
which exists between the same molding exhibited in section
and in elevation. The roll-and-triple-fillet produces a fine effect
in moldings of this style. Its edge-lines are sharp and deli-
cate, and the profile beautifully relieved by the deep side-
hollows with which it is necessarily connected.

PL. V. fig. 7, is the interior of a window-jamb at Bennington,
Lincolnshire, and fig. 10 the exterior of the same. Fig. 8
is the interior of a window-jamb at Heckington. Fig. 13 is
one side of the belfry-arch at West Keal, Lincolnshire.*

PL. VII. fig. 8, is the outer archway of the west entrance to
the precinct, Peterborough ; an effective Decorated group. Fig. 9
is a very common plan of a Decorated window. It is taken
from Yaxley, Hunts. Fig. 10 is from Clipsham, Rutland — a
window which is elegantly enriched by a trail of ball-flowers in
the hollow chamfer of the outer order. Fig. 12 is a Decorated
window from the chancel at Over ; fig. 11, from Horbling,
Lincolnshire. This also is a very common form in Decorated
windows. Fig. 13 is from the outer porch doorway at North-
borough. Fig. 15, a groin-rib from Rivaulx Abbey ; fig. 16, a
doorway from West Keal ; fig. 21 is a window from the fine
Decorated chancel at Keddington, or Iietton, Suffolk. Fig. 22,
the molding at the angle of a piscina, Thurlby, Lincolnshire.
Fig. 23, the south doorway at Langtoft, near Market Deeping.

PL. XX. fig. 4, is an archway in the cloisters at Peterborough,
with double jamb-shafts.

* This example is badly copied, and must not be depended upon.

CO

MANUAL OF GOTHIC MOLDINGS.

SECTION VII.

OF PERPENDICULAR MOLDINGS.

FROM THE ACCESSION OF EICHARD II. TO DEATH OF HENRY VIII.*
A.D. 1377 TO 1546.

In the moldings of this style a debasing influence will at once
be perceived in the comparatively meagre save-trouble method of
working them. Large and coarse members, with little of minute
and delicate detail, wide and shallow hollows, occupying spaces
which, in early work, would have been filled with groups of separ-
ate moldings ; hard wiry edges in place of rounded and softened
forms, and general shallowness of cutting, are all conspicuous
characteristics. Add to these, that their general arrangement
on the chamfer-plane, which is a marked feature of the Per-
pendicular period, gives a flatness which is unpleasing to the
eye in comparison with the rectangularly recessed grouping of
the two preceding styles. At the same time, there is such a
mass of really high art in the work of this period, that the
student must be careful not to slur it over, in indulging any
predilection he may have formed for earlier work. The mold-
ings of this style frequently die into a basement composed of

the simple uncut
chamfer - plane, in
which case the outer
edges of each molding
of course coincide with
it, since it is only by
cutting channels that
the moldings are developed from it. Three peculiarities are so

* This might fairly be divided by the student into Perpendicular and
Tudor, commencing the latter with the reign of Henry VII., 1485.

Fireplace, Vicar's Close, Wells.

PERPENDICULAR MOLDINGS. 61

common in Perpendicular moldings, that their absence almost
forms the exception to general usage. These are : —

1. A wide shallow casement, or hollow, usually occupying
the centre of the group, and equal to about one-third of the
width ;

2. The constant use of bowtells, or beads, of three-quarters
of a circle, resembling small shafts, and often used as such ;

3. The frequency of the double ogee, and some varieties of it
peculiar to the period.

The casement alluded to may undoubtedly be regarded as an
elongation or extension of the Decorated three-quarter hollow,
by which width is gained at the sacrifice of depth. Accordingly,
it is generally a mark of early Perpendicular work when the
casement is deep and narrow, of late when wide and shallow,
and of debased when it is, as it were, so stretched as to become
almost or quite a fiat surface, sunken but little below the
chamfer-plane, or external line of the group. The latter result
may be observed in the windows of St. Botolph's Church, and
in those of the older portions of St. John's College, Cambridge.

Of many forms which the casement assumes, the most
frequent are those represented in PL. IX. figs. 11, 16, and
PL. VIII. figs. 4, 10, 13. It is very common to find one or
both ends of the hollow returned in a kind of quasi-bowtell, as
seen in PL. VIII. figs. 2 and 15, and PL. XX. fig. 3, a window
in the chancel of Grantham Church. Frequently, however,
perhaps generally, the ends are sharp and angular, as PL. IX.
fig. 14, PL. XX. fig. 14, the arch-mold of the nave of Lancaster
Church, or PL. VIII. fig. 3. The three-quarter hollow also
occurs in this style, and sometimes, as in PL. IX. fig. 2, m the
same group with the great casement or central hollow.

The bowtell will be observed in some form or other in almost
every example given in PL. VIII. and IX. ; and if the student
compares the three plates of Decorated moldings, he will per-
ceive the importance of assigning this feature as a peculiarity

G2

ANUAL OP GOTHIC MOLDINGS.

of the Perpendicular. In PL. XX. fig. 6, from Rivaulx Abbey,
a small double bowtell forms the central member. Fig. 10, the
western doorway at Newton Church, near Cambridge ; figs. 11
and 12, both from Bolton Abbey ; fig. 13, from a small door-
way in the choir of Grantham Church ; and fig. 5, a doorway in
Ripon Minster, — all contain examples of the cylindrical bowtell.
It is often formed from a plane by sinking a channel on each
side, as in PL. VIII. figs. 1, 3, 6. Occasionally it stands like
an excrescence on the surface of a plane, as fig. 5 ; but this is a
departure from the usual practice, as well as from the true
principle of moldings.

The double ogee is much more common in Perpendicular
than in Decorated moldings. There is some difference, too, in
the form which it assumes in the later style. For whereas the
Decorated ogee, as before stated, always represents the profile
of the half of a roll-and-fillet, the Perpendicular appears rather
to be composed of a semicircular hollow continued in a bowtell,

peculiar to the style, are the double ogee with a bowtell in the
centre, PL. IX. fig. b ; an ogee combined with a quarter-circle,*
fig. c ; an ogee with a small bead or fillet at the base, as
PL. VIII. figs. 7, 9 ; an ogee with a bowtell forming one side
of the great casement, PL. IX. figs. 1, 8, 10, 16, 17 ; and the
combination exhibited in fig. 1 5, where the depth of the hollow
is generally conclusive. All these may be considered as dis-
tinctive criteria of the style.

Perpendicular members, PL. IX. fig. B.

forming a section more like the
letter S— see PL. XVI. figs. 4
and 5. However, the earlier
form, fig. 5, is extremely com-
mon in Perpendicular mold-
ings, and especially in the
double ogee. Other varieties,

* This is one of the commonest and most decisive combinations in Per-
pendicular moldings, as PL. XX. figs. 10 and 14 ; PL. IX. fig. 3.

PERPENDICULAR MOLDINGS.

68

The form represented in outline in the preceding woodcut is
found in all the styles. It occurs in Early English work, with
the roll or bowtell plain and not filleted, in a doorway at
Fountains Abbey. The shape, however, of the ogee curve and
the breadth of the fillet will be found to follow the rules laid
■down.

The double ogee is someiiiiies of large and clumsy size in
Perpendicular arch-moldings. In Decorated, it is usually rather
small, and is principally confined to the outer members of door-
ways and windows. A roll-and-fillet between two ogees is
properly a late Decorated combination, as in PL. II. fig. 14 ;
PL. VII. fig. 3. In PL. VIII. fig. 16, the inner doorway of
the south porch at Great Shelford, near Cambridge, it is of the
Transition period, that is, before 1400.

The form of the roll-and-fillet, prevalent in this style, in
which, however, it was not extensively used,* is that of the
diagram between figs. 10 and 11, PL. IV. The debased form
of the bowtell mold, PL. VIII. fig. 21, is also
peculiar to the style ; it is much used in base-
ment moldings and capitals. Sometimes we find
the roll-and-triple-fillet in a debased form, as in
PL. IX. fig. 13, the belfry-arch at Haslingfield,
Cambridgeshire. Two other corrupted varieties
are exhibited in fig. 16. In the annexed dia-
grams the upper figure represents the Early
English ; the other two, varieties of the Per-
pendicular roll-and-fillet.

A half roll-and-fillet frequently occurs, as in PL. XX. fig. 7,
a window-jamb from the south aisle of the nave at Ripon
Cathedral ; fig. 9, a doorway from Bolton Abbey. The pointed
bowtell is very rare in this style ; it is shown in fig. 3, and it

* The absence of the roll-and-fillet, except in a very corrupted form, is,
in fact, one of the most remarkable features in the moldings of the late
Gothic. "When it does occur, it usually springs from the capital of a
.small bowtell.

G4

MANUAL OF GOTHIC MOLDINGS.

occurs in the aisle windows at the west end of St. John's
Church, Stamford.

Window-moldings are usually extremely meagre, though the
tracery is generally set deeper in the wall than in the preceding
style, and, consequently, a larger space is available for the pur-
pose. But the great casement, or hollow, encroaches so much
upon the group that little room is left for more than a double
ogee on the outside of it, and the monial-members on the inside
— by which term those moldings of the jamb are meant which
coincide with the monials. PL. VIII. fig. 12, represents the
almost universal plan of Perpendicular windows. Sometimes,
however, especially in earlier examples, we find the double ogee
externally, comprising the first order, and the monial-members
occupying the next, without any casement in the angle. PL. IX.
figs. 12 and 18, are taken from different churches, and illus-
trate the remarkable uniformity which prevailed in the use of
moldings.

Having pointed out these facts (which deserved to be regis-
tered as essential and characteristic differences), little remains
to be said on this part of the subject. Kich and good Perpendi-
cular moldings are not very common, most examples consisting
but of three or four very ordinary members, which offer nothing
either novel or interesting to the view ; while in the two pre-
ceding styles there is ever something singular, or beautiful, or
ingenious, in the treatment of the moldings, to arrest our atten-
tion and add to our store of knowledge. But Perpendicular
work is by no means to be despised, for many points may be
found, such as the jamb-shafts in deeply recessed doorways,
which form groups of considerable delicacy.

PL. VIII. fig. 1, is from the west doorway at Uffington, near
Stamford ; early in the style. Fig. 2 is the same, from the
isolated tower at Dereham, Norfolk. Fig. 3 the same, from
Saham Toney ; fig. 4 from Fishtoft, Lincolnshire. Fig. 5 is
from the east window at Leverton, in the same county ; fig. 6*

PERPENDICULAR MOLDINGS. 65

from Partney ; fig. 7 from Louth, both doorways ; fig. 8 from
Stewton, a window-jamb ; fig. 9 from an oriel window in Lin-
coln ; fig. 12 from the south Choir Chapel, Lincoln Cathedral ;
fig. 10 the east window at Chesterton, near Cambridge ; fig. 13
an arch in St. Sepulchre's Church; fig. 14 from a niche at
Great Gransden, near St. Neots ; fig. 15 the east window at
Stapleford, near Cambridge; fig. 16 from Great Shelford; fig. 17
a pier-arch from Holy Trinity, Colchester ; fig. 18 the same
from Long Melford, Suffolk ; fig. 19 a doorway at St. Martin's,
Stamford ; fig. 20 the pier-arches of the same church ; fig. 21
from Louth.

PL. IX. fig. 1, is from the east window of St. Martin's,
Stamford ; fig. 2 the west doorway of the same ; fig. 3 the same
from St. John's Church, Stamford; fig. 4 from the Bede House
in that town ; fig. 5 is from a pier-arch in the noble church of
All Saints ; fig. 6 the west doorway, and fig. 7 a window, from
Histon, near Cambridge; fig. 8 is from the chancel door at
Skirlaugh, Yorkshire,* fig. 9 the north doorway at Harlton,
near Cambridge ; fig. 10 the south doorway, Skirlaugh ; fig. 11
from Basingstoke, Hampshire ; fig. 12 a window of common
form ; fig. 13 the belfry-arch at Haslingfield ; fig. 14 the south
doorway at Grantchester ; fig. 15 a molding of constant occur-
rence ; fig. 16 from St. Albans ; fig. 17 a doorway, and fig. 18
a window, from Byhall, Rutland. The former has large sculp-
tured paterae in the central casement.

It will be observed that the distinction of the orders is often
completely lost in this style, while it is seldom undefinable in
Decorated moldings. It also appears, from the examples given,
that in many cases the chamfer-plane is either more or less than
an angle of 45°; and that occasionally, as PL. VIII. fig. 11,
two parallel planes are taken for the basis of the arrangement.

* The two moldings, figs. 8 and 10, are borrowed from the " Churches
of Yorkshire," and figs. 11 and 16, from Messrs. Brandon's excellent
work, the "Analysis of Gothic Architecture."

F

66 MANUAL OF GOTHIC MOLDINGS.

The casement is sometimes so extravagantly hollowed as to
give the appearance, and probably the actual effect, of weaken-
ing the jamb. This is a great fault, and always produces a
very unsatisfactory result to the eye, which desiderates the
idea of perfect and substantial support.* An instance may be
noticed in the west window of Granchester Church.

One principle of composition may sometimes be traced in

This is the custom of ending
with a repetition of the same
members which commenced
the group, the centre being
occupied by a different one.
This may be illustrated by
PL. IX. figs. 3, 6, 8, or by
the annexed cut.

Students of the present
subject will find a very valu-
able series of illustrations
of base, capital, and arch-
molds of the three styles in
pp. 76, 77 of Professor Willis's " Architectural History of Win-
chester Cathedral," published by the Archaeological Institute,
and in many other accounts of cathedrals by the same author.

* Willis's Architecture of the Middle Ages, p. 15.

PLANS OP GOTHIC COLUMNS.

G7

SECTION VIII.

OF THE PLANS OF GOTHIC COLUMNS.*

This subject falls properly under the head of Moldings, since
the forms of piers or columns more or less partake of the
details of the arch-moldings. But it is one of such extensive
scope that only a few general rules can here be given for dis-
tinguishing the styles. And of these the bases and capitals
will generally afford the surest indications.

A few sections have been given for the purpose in PL. III.

The general plan of the columns which support the nave or
other principal arches, is either square, circular, octagonal,
diamond-shaped, or parallelogramic ; and these forms are either
simple or complex.

Simple, when composed of one plain member, that is, not
involving a number of aggregate parts;

Complex, when consisting of a core surrounded by smaller
shafts, detached or engaged.

The earliest form of column is the circular, as is proved by
those in the ancient chapel in the White Tower, London (pro-
bably the earliest piece of Norman architecture in England),
and by similar examples at Waltham Abbey (which, whether
Harold's Church or not, is undoubtedly early), at Norwich
Cathedral, St. Sepulchre's Church, Cambridge, and many
other places. Polygonal Norman piers, of vast size and
strength, support the eastern transept walls at Peterborough
Cathedral. And these simple forms continued in common use
throughout the Transitional, Early English, and Decorated

* The mediaeval terms for columns, capitals, and shafts, were respec-
tively pillars, chapiters, and verges. The plinth, or footing of the
columns, was the patin. See Professor Willis's Architectural Nomen-
clature, pp. 39-41.

F 2

68 MANUAL OF GOTHIC MOLDINGS.

periods in ordinary parochial churches, where they are some-
times disposed alternately, or in opposite rows. But a very
common arrangement is that of the square plan, or forms
derived from it; thus it was sometimes cut with angular
recesses, like the arch and sub-arch, and these recesses were
soon filled with small shafts. With circular columns the vault-
ing shafts were commonly stopped above the capitals by a
corbel, but they were frequently brought down to the ground
with the rectangular plan, where the flat face of the pier was
continuous with that of the wall ; and the member also carry-
ing the sub-arch was often made into a semicircular form.
Thus we obtain, though in a heavy and simple form, a regular
clustered shaft, which, during the Early English period, was
brought to a wonderful degree of lightness and elegance.

These complex Early English piers are often extremely beau-
tiful ; more so, perhaps, than those of any other style. They
are so varied in arrangement that it would be impossible in this
place to do more than notice their general characteristics,
which consist principally in the number of smaller isolated
shafts clinging to a central column, to which they are at
intervals attached in reality as well as in appearance, by molded
bands or fillets. These shafts are generally of native marble,*
or of some other kind of stone than the central pillar. The
clustered capitals and bases are often worked out in one large
piece.

A circular column, surrounded by four, six, or eight smaller

detached shafts, is a beautiful and common device. Examples

are very common ; the choir-aisles at Ely, the Lady Chapel of

Fountains Abbey (PL. XIX. fig. 8), and many parts of West-

* It is a curious fact that the mediaeval English architects appear
never to have used any foreign marbles, in construction at least. The
Purbeck limestone, composed of comminuted freshwater shells (whence it
is called lumachella marble) , being part of the Wealden formation, and
taking a fine polish, though liable to disintegrate, was much used in the
thirteenth century, but much more sparingly afterwards, except for tombs
and the beds of sepulchral brasses.

PLANS OF GOTHIC COLUMNS. 69

minster Abbey, have this kind of compound pillar. In some
cases the column is made up of several shafts, generally four,
placed close together, without any central core, as in the round
nave of the Temple Church. In this case there is always a
midway band or bonding-stone, worked into annular fillets to
the shafts. The shafts are not always separately applied,
though usually so in the pure lancet style. PL. III. fig. 11, is
an instance of attached shafts so deeply undercut that they
have the appearance of complete isolation. It forms an ex-
quisitely graceful feature in the Chapter House of Furness
Abbey. The lower part of a similar one, rather later in date,
still stands in the vestibule of St. Mary's Abbey, York; and
there is a very good example at Exton, Rutland. PL. III. fig. 8,
is from All Saints', Stamford ; fig. 13 from Ruskington, Lin-
colnshire ; and fig. 12 from St. Peter Gowt's, at Lincoln. Fig. 17
is from Skelton, near York ; and this is a very common form of
Early English and Decorated piers, with some varieties, as fig. 16,
and in PL. V. figs. 15, 17. PL. XIX.
fig. 5, is a beautiful example of the
former style, from Stretton Church,
Rutland. Fig. 6 is from Grantham
Church. The annexed is from Rus-
kington Church, Lincolnshire, and is
reduced from the section given in Mr.
Bowman's illustrations of that church.
Half of a roll-and-fillet set on each
side of a square, the corners of which project, and are some-
times worked into smaller pointed beads, is of constant occur-
rence. The square being set to the cardinal points, the
addition of the shafts changes the outline to the diamond form.
The fillets running up the face of each shaft usually pass over
or round the astragal, and die into the bell of the capital, as in
PL. X. fig. 40.

Towards the Geometric era, that is, after 1240, the shafts or

70 MANUAL OF GOTHIC MOLDINGS.

verges, as they were anciently called) began to be generally
engaged, or attached to the central mass.* This will be seen
in the choir of the Temple Church, erected at the above period.
The construction, therefore, is entirely different, the whole dia-
metric section being worked out of one block, for the sake of
greater strength. Decorated piers always have their shafts
engaged, so that a clustered column is in reality formed by chan-
nelling the surfaces of the mass in lines and hollows of graceful
lights and shadows. PL. III. figs. 14 and 16, are among the
commonest forms ; but the richness and extent of the great piers
in cathedrals and abbeys it would require a volume to set forth.
Fig. 14 is from Utterby, Lincolnshire, and is remarkable for
the hollow faces, which are seldom found but in small shafts in
Perpendicular work.

Perpendicular piers are generally of oblong or parallelogramic
plan, the longitudinal direction extending from north to south.

On the east and west sides half-shafts are
attached, which bear the innermost order,
or soffit-moldings, of the arch ; the rest,
including the great casement or hollow,
being usually continuous, without the
interruption of any impost. Very good
examples exist at Great St. Mary's, Cam-
bridge,where vaulting shafts are also added
on the northern and southern faces. PL.
III. fig. 15, is from Attleborough, Norfolk,
of late .Decorated date. PL. III. fig. 18,
from St. John's, Stamford, a plain but good illustration of this
almost universal method. PL. XIX. fig. 4, from Saffron Walden,
Essex. The principle which led to this form was the desire to
obtain width in the direction of the thickness of the wall,

* Shafts ceased to stand detached or banded into clusters, and became
instead firmly compacted into a mass ; the bands, no longer of any use,
real or apparent, being suppressed. — Brandon's Analysis, p. 2.

PLANS OF GOTHIC COLUMNS.

71

combined with the least possible bulk, and the greatest span
between the columns. In this they followed the
plan of window monials ; in fact, in some late
churches, as at Swavesey, near Cambridge, they
become nothing more nor less than exaggerated
monials with shafts attached to carry the sub-
arch.

Another form, however, occurs not unfrequently
in Perpendicular columns, which is shown in
PL. III. figs. 19 and 20, the first from St.
Martin's, the second from St. Mary's, Stamford,
ground-plan is a square, and each face (as in fig. 19), or each
angle (as fig. 20), if set diamond-wise, carries an engaged shaft.
In the first case, the angles are chamfered away ; in the second,
a hollow is sunk in the face between the shafts. This is usually
of later date than the parallelogramic plan. Still, examples are

In these the

Long Ashton.

Ensham Church. Wood Ditton Church.

not wanting of early Perpendicular character, as in Long Ashton
Church, Somersetshire, built about, or rather before, 1400.
The example is taken from Bowman's " Specimens of Ecclesias-
tical Architecture," PL. IV. The nave columns in this church
consist of a square, with a three-quarter circular shaft engaged
on each face, the angles being cut away into the wave-molding,
which runs continuously round the arches. PL. XIX. fig. 7, re-

72

MANUAL OF GOTHIC MOLDINGS.

presents a column of good Decorated date in the crypt at Gran-
tham, in which the same principle of formation is exhibited.

The parallelogramic plan is sometimes found in Decorated
columns, but not until the close of the style. The woodcuts
on the previous page represent such a column from Wood Ditton
Church, near Newmarket, and that from Ensham Church,
c. 1400, given in " The Oxford Architectural Guide," p. 139.

SECTION IX.

OF CAPITALS.

The moldings of capitals and bases form not the least in-
teresting, extensive, and important part of the study. And
they have the peculiar advantage of being more definitely
marked, in the various periods of architecture, than any other
kind of moldings. It is by no means impossible, even for an
experienced eye, to mistake the details of a Decorated for
those of a Perpendicular archway ; but no one moderately
acquainted with the subject could hesitate in pronouncing the
style of a capital or base, provided it possessed any character
at all.

To go very rapidly through the history of a column, we may
suppose that an upright post planted in the earth was found to
sink, or decline from the perpendicular, by a great superincum-
bent pressure. This failure suggested the necessity of a plinth,
or broad footing of masonry, on which it might stand firm,
erect, and immovable. This arrangement we may often observe
in the construction of wooden sheds or rustic homesteads of
rude timber- work. Again, a great square stone would naturally
be placed upon the top of the pillar or post, as the bed or

OF CAPITALS.

cushion to receive the superstructure, whether arch or entabla-
ture. It was from such an origin that the highly elaborated
Gothic base and capital arose.

Examples fully as rude as this do actually exist in English
ecclesiastical architecture, so that we have positive fact to guide
us instead of mere theory. The Ante-Norman belfry-arches at
Barnack and St. Mary Bishophill Junior, York, with a great
many others of probably much later date, have square pillars on
each side, resting upon and surmounted by rude and clumsy
blocks of stone.

In the Norman period, when the shaft was round, the highest
and lowest members only, respectively called the abacus and the
plinth (anciently the patin) were square, the parts immediately
below the one and above the other being rounded off to suit the
shape of the shaft. How this was done in Norman capitals is

Cushion Capital. Transition Norman Capitals, Bolton Abbey. •

shown in PL. X. fig. 2, and it is seen in the ordinary form of
what has been called the cushion capital. The lingering re-
luctance to get rid of the square plinth, in the tongue-shaped
leaves or other grotesques which are often seen to issue from the
circular moldings of Transition-Norman bases, and extend to
the otherwise vacant and superfluous angles of the plinth, is
worthy of observation. It was felt that these angles were not
necessary ; but the mediaeval builders preferred to decorate what
as yet they did not wish to cut away. Even in the advanced
Early English columns in Westminster Abbey, instances of
floriated bases may be observed.

74

MANUAL OP GOTHIC MOLDINGS.

But the simple square was sure to undergo some changes,
and this took place first in capitals. In the more elaborate

Classic styles, the sides were cut out,
or curved inwards — a feature some-
times seen in Perpendicular octagonal
capitals ; but this method of relieving
and lightening the massive impost
does not seem to have occurred to the
Komanesque builders. They either
cut off or cut out the corners, as soon

Ely : South Transept. '

as the pier-arch, by becoming recessed
or involving a sub-arch (PL. I. fig. 4), left a portion of the
bearing surface unemployed and superfluous. That is, rectan-
gular nooks were cut in the angles of the square abacus,
corresponding to the graduation of the sub-arch, as in the
accompanying cut, and examples may also be seen in Potter's
" Illustrations of Buildwas Abbey," pi. 6. From the former
process came the octagonal form ; and either by removing
angles indefinitely, or, more probably, by adopting the shape of
the shaft, we obtain the circular capital and base of the first
and second Gothic periods. But capitals became octagonal
before plinths ; and similarly octagonal plinths were retained
long after circular capitals had become universal.

Gothic capitals may be divided into two kinds, molded and
floriated. The upper member, or abacus, is common to both,
and is the relic of the rude impost which first surmounted the
stone post, from which it was transferred, through the medium
of the Classic to the Christian styles. This seems, in fact, to
be the primary and essential, and, as it were, practical member,
the others being only decorative adjuncts. The lowest member,
called the neck or astragal, is also common to both kinds ; but
in floriated capitals foliage covers the intermediate space, which
is otherwise occupied by the overhanging and undercut member
called the bell, with its accompanying moldings. In the Transi-

OF CAPITALS.

75

tion-Norman and Early English, the foliage, as is well known,
is arranged vertically ; in the Decorated it twines horizontally,
or rather transversely, round the capital. In Perpendicular,
floriated capitals are rare ; more frequently small leaves, or
paterce, are set like studs at intervals round the shaft above the
neck, as in Great St. Mary's Church, Cambridge. But the vine
and the strawberry leaf is sometimes seen, very differently
worked, however, from the deep overhanging foliage of the
earlier styles, being only a shallow kind of surface ornament.

The dog-tooth, the nail-head, the ball-flower, and other orna-
mental moldings, sometimes occur in capitals, and in later work
the Tudor flower, or crestings of minute battlements (occasion-
ally floriated), are also frequently found. Even angels' heads
with spread wings are sometimes found, as in the belfry-arch of
Great Shelford, near Cambridge, and in the choir of Wingfield
Church, Suffolk. Occasionally (in Norman work commonly)
some subject is grotesquely sculptured below the abacus. Of
this there is a very curious example at West Keal, Lincolnshire.*
Or a subject is intermixed with the foliage, as in some very
interesting Early English capitals in the south transept and the
north porch of Wells Cathedral.

But of floriated or sculptured work it is not at present our
province to speak. It is enough to observe that the origin of
foliage is probably Classical, since in the Bomanesque we find
the style of it, as used in capitals, very closely approaching the
Corinthian acanthus, or the Ionic volute ; for example, the
Transitional Norman capitals at the east end of Canterbury
Cathedral, and not unfrequently in parochial churches (as at
Barnack), seem clearly to be Classical in general features, and
almost so in their details. Others, however, will have it that

* On one of the capitals (which are Decorated) a fox is carrying off a
goose, while a chained ape is laying hold of it behind. The Decorated
capitals in Oakham Church exhibit the same design, among others. This
Jrind of capital may be called Pictorial, as the author has suggested in
the Manual of Gothic Architecture, p. 110.

78

MANUAL OF GOTHIC MOLDINGS.

mold gradually became more important, and was frequently cut
into a hollow chamfer, and sometimes quirked and finished also
with a bead, as at Heacham, Norfolk. By this means a light

M SSM

Coton. St. Sep., Cant. Cath. Blatherwick, Byland. Heacham, Wadeulioe,
Cambridge. Crypt. Northauts. Norfolk. Northants.

abacus was obtained, which held its ground far into the Early
English style, as may be seen at the Kefectory, Eivaulx, &c.

But then they began to cut away the upper edge, the projec-
tion was made greater, and the under side was cut or hollowed
out, so that it seems to overhang the bell just as the bell does
the shaft, and with the same profile, consisting of the half of a
roll-and-fillet. The Decorated abacus has the scroll-molding,
with a cylindrical roll of rather less size below it. PL. X.
figs. 38 and 39, represent these peculiarities, and an examination
of the sections of the capitals of both styles will show how rarely
this distinctive mark is wanting. In Early English capitals the
abacus is sometimes quite plain, as fig. 17, from Thurlby, and
fig. 8, from Frieston, Lincolnshire. In the reign of Edward I.
a peculiar molding occurs, something between the two, which
may be called an undercut scroll-molding. This is seen in
fig. 9, from Stickney, and fig. 12, from Lincoln Cathedral, and
it may be considered a characteristic of transition from Early
English to Decorated.

The moldings of the bell are generally kept within the limits
shown in fig. o, but in very minute work exceptions are some-
times found ; for instance, at Temple Balsal, Warwickshire,
the capitals to the small shafts on the monials of some of the
windows have the bell projecting quite beyond the abacus.
The woodcut is taken from Bowman and Crowther's " Churches
of the Middle Ages." Where foliage is introduced it often

OF CAPITALS.

79

projected a long way even in large capitals, and a molding
seems to have been allowed the same

i

license when the scale was small. Small
capitals and bases appear frequently to *
have been turned in lathes, and this
might account for treating a molding like
foliage where the effect of foliage was
desired. In Early English capitals the
bell has sometimes a double set of
moldings, which gives a very handsome
effect. This is seen in PL. X. figs. 19, Temple Balsal -
28, from Tintern ; fig. 22, from Furness ; and fig. 24, from
Bolton.

Capitals occur in their greatest perfection in shafts. The
larger piers, of octagonal or circular form, are seldom so
elaborate or so decidedly marked. In these the abacus is the
only member which affords any sure indication of date.

The distinguishing feature of Decorated capitals has been
stated to be the scroll-molding
of the abacus, and in perhaps
ninety-nine out of every hundred
examples the rule holds good.
Yet some capitals presenting the
same feature are said to be of
Early English date. It is believed
that the Early English abacus
scarcely ever occurs in pure Deco- Decorated Capitalj Grantliam .
rated work.

The bell is seldom so prominent or so deeply undercut in this
as in the preceding style. As a general rule, the projection
(i.e. the relative diameter to that of the shaft) became gradually
less, both in capitals and bases, as the styles advanced. The
above cut furnishes an exception to the rule. Thus, in Per-
pendicular work, when the shafts became, as it were, mere parts

80 MANUAL OF GOTHIC MOLDINGS.

of the entire groups of moldings, both these features became
minute and subordinate. Decorated capitals preserve the happy
medium between the clumsiness of constructive members, and
the inutility of mere ornaments. In this their remarkable
beauty really consists, in that they occupy the truest and most
consistent position as architectural parts of the whole. With
respect to their details, the moldings of the bell present the
principal varieties ; but these are generally some modification or
corruption of the roll-and-fillet. Very often the under
part of the bell is composed of an entire roll-and-fillet,
as in PL. XII. figs. 3, 8, and PL. XI. figs. 12, 20.
It is still more frequently formed by the compound
member shown in the cut, and in PL. XI. fig. 4.
Out of forty-three examples of Decorated capitals given in
PL. XI. and XII. ten of them have the bell thus formed, and
others present some slight variety of it. It is seen in elevation
in PL. XII. fig. 15, the beautiful capital of the nave-piers at
Hingham.

Decorated capitals seldom have double moldings to the belj,
at least much less frequently than in the Early English style.
Three examples are given, PL. XI. fig. 2, from Yaxley, Hunts,
very early in the style, as appears by the abacus, PL. XII. fig. 9,
and the annexed cut, from Harringworth, Northants.

The neck, or astragal, forms
an important detail in deter-
mining the dates of capitals. In
the Early English it is usually
a heavy and bold annular mold-
ing, of a stilted or oval shape, or
rather more than half a circle,
as PL. X. fig. 11. Either this
or the semi-hexagon (fig. 15) is
Harringworth. t ^ e prevailing form. The Deco-

rated neck is almost always the scroll- molding ; but both the

OF CAPITALS. 81

Early English forms, with many others, will be found to occur.
The capitals of both styles are often so nearly identical in
general character and principles of formation, that a practised
eye may now and then be deceived in their date. And it is
here important to remark, that though the vast majority of
capitals in all English buildings will be found to fall in with the
rules laid down in this work, anomalies do occur which present
difficulties in any attempt to classify them ; and the same is true
of bases.

Perpendicular capitals present very marked features, which
are seldom liable to be mistaken. The moldings are large,
angular, meagre, and few. Neither abacus nor bell is clearly
defined — a fact similar to that already stated with regard to
the arch-moldings of this style, that the distinction of orders is-
generally lost. The abacus, in short, no longer appears as a
separable member, and the bell either wholly vanishes or is
very imperfectly developed. The upper part of the abacus is
usually sloped off to a sharp edge, like the chamfer of an
angle ; the section of the molding below resembles the letter S,.
being an ogee formed by a bold concave returning
into a prominent convex (as at Coton) ; and, above
all, the capital is nearly always octagonal, while Wglk
that of the preceding styles is commonly round.
The shaft, however, is circular in Perpendicular
work ; while octagonal capitals only occur in the oif
other styles in the case of large single columns

Coton, Camb.

of the same shape, if we except a few cases of

Early English arcading shafts with octagonal capitals, as in

the transepts at Histon, near Cambridge, the west front of

Peterborough Cathedral, and in the choir-aisle of Fountains

Abbey.

The same principle which induced the latter architects to
prefer sharp edges and abrupt lines in their moldings to the
soft and blending Decorated forms, made them revert to the

G

82

MANUAL OF GOTHIC MOLDINGS.

Lancaster Church.

«jjjp

octagonal capital to the rejection of the circular. The base,
however, is generally circular in its
upper members, and octagonal below,
as in PL. XV. figs. 1 and 2.

Perpendicular capitals are often
embattled, as PL. XII. figs. 16, 22,
26, 29, an arrangement which is rare
in the preceding style.

The astragal, or neck, is either a
plain round or a kind of debased
scroll-molding with the upper edge chamfered, as in the abacus.

Another form, resembling a coarse keel-mold, com-
jL mon to both members, is that shown in PL. VIII.
fig. 21, which occurs in the abacus of PL. XIII.
fig. 8, and the neck of fig. 15.

The bell with its overhanging and undercut
moldings having vanished, the projection of the
capital is produced by a meagre slope, as figs. 3 and 5. Some-
times, however, but not very often, the bell remains. Its form
seems capricious, and reducible to no certain rule, though the
profile is often much the same as in Decorated work. Perhaps
greater license was taken in general in designing the moldings
of this style than in any other.

The section of the Perpendicular abacus is a mere corruption
of the Decorated scroll-molding. Thus in PL. XIII. figs. 7,
10, and 12, we see nearly the same form as in the Decorated ;
and by omitting the under roll, as in figs. 20, 21, we obtain
the ordinary profile of fig. 15. This debasement of the scroll-
molding is separately shown in PL. IV. fig. 22.

It will not be necessary to occupy much space in stating the
places from which our numerous sections of capitals and bases
are taken. A few only of the most remarkable shall be thus
specified. PL. X. figs. 7, 8, are from Frieston, Lincolnshire.
Here the bell is of rather unusual form, perhaps more so in

OF CAPITALS. 83

this than in the next style, as in PL. XI. figs. 9, 11, 15, 16, 17.
PL. X. fig. 9, a noble capital from Stickney, Lincolnshire,
late in the style, as appears from the undercut scroll-abacus.
Fig. 10 is from the same place. Of the same date and character
are 12 and 13 ; the former from Lincoln Cathedral, the latter
from Kuskington. Fig. 18 is from the Chapter House of
Furness Abbey, and has the double bell ; fig. 19 from Tintern
Abbey, very rich and fine in its profile.* Fig. 22 is shown in
elevation, by studying which, those who are unacquainted with
the details of the styles may form a correct idea of the leading
characteristics of the capitals of this period. It is from Furness
Abbey. Figs. 23, 24, 26, are from Bolton Abbey. Fig. 28 is
from Tintern, rather late, and remarkable in its profile. Fig. 29
is from Arreton, Isle of Wight. Fig. 30 from Saffron Walden,
of much larger size than usual. Fig. 37 is from Bolton Abbey,
with the nail-head in the hollow above the bell. Fig. 40 is the
elevation of the most ordinary form in shafts and clustered piers.

PL. XI. figs. 1 and 2, are from Yaxley; fig. 4 is a fine
capital of very unusual size and depth, in a chapel used as the
vestry in the church at Boston. Fig. 3 is from Fletton, Hunts ;
figs. 6, 7, from Leverton ; fig. 9 from Sibsey ; fig. 10 from
Stickford ; fig. 11 from Partney— all in Lincolnshire. Fig. 12
is from Legburn, in the same county, of large size (15 inches
in depth) ; fig. 13 from Waltham. Figs. 15, 16, 17, are all
from Lincolnshire, and almost identical. This is
the form of the pier capitals at Heckington. Fig.
18 is from Aswardby, Lincolnshire, depth one foot ;
fig. 22 is from Abington, Cambridgeshire.

The sections of Decorated capitals in PL. XII.
are mostly from churches in the neighbourhood of
Cambridge. Fig. 14 is not uncommon in Transition Cambfid^'.
to Perpendicular ; it occurs at Maxey, Northamptonshire, and

* The student is again referred to Potter's illustrations of this abbey
for many beautiful capitals and bases, drawn on a large scale.

G 2

84 MANUAL OF GOTHIC MOLDINGS.

at Louth (see PL. XI. fig. 28). Fig. 13 is from a fine monu-
ment at Little Shelford, near Cambridge. The rest of the
sections in this plate are Perpendicular.

PL. XII. fig. 16, is from Careby, Lincolnshire. This has a
battlement above, and the double ogee below, the abacus. A
similar feature is the wave-molding, in the same position, in the
Decorated capitals of the nave columns at Dunchurch, Warwick-
shire.

PL. XII. fig. 19, is from Uffington, near Stamford. This and
the next illustrate the methods of obtaining the plane of the
moldings, which in this style should be attended to. Figs. 22,
23, 24, are from St. Martin's, figs. 26 and 27 from St. John's,
fig. 28 from St. George's, and fig. 29 from the Bede House, all
in Stamford.

PL. XIII. fig. 1, is from Long Melford, Suffolk ; fig. 4 from
Louth ; figs. 8, 9, 12, from Colchester ; fig. 14 from Harston,
near Cambridge ; fig. 13 from Fen Ditton ; fig. 17 from Mat-
tishall, Norfolk. Here the abacus is octagonal, the bell and
neck circular. Fig. 18 is from Elsworth Hall,* Norfolk ; fig. 16
from Dry Drayton, near Cambridge; fig. 19 from Saham
Toney.

SECTION X.

OF BASES.

The earliest examples of bases must be looked for in the rude
monolith blocks which support the pillars or pilasters in the
Ante-Norman churches, such as at Wittering, near Stamford,
and others already mentioned. These are often mere shapeless

* An interesting specimen, very little known, of a moated mansion of
the Fifteenth Century.

OP BASES.

85

lumps, laid down as they were raised from the quarry, and
consisting only of the single member thus presented to view.
Norman architecture first adopted a more regular method in
constructing the footing of a column, and from that arrange-
ment those of the subsequent styles are readily deduced. The
Classic pillar was evidently the prototype of all these.

Bases consist, in early work, of at least two distinct members
— the plinth, or lower step, of solid masonry, generally square
in early work, but octagonal in later ; and the base-moldings,
a series of annular rolls, slopes, or hollows, taking the form
of the column, and forming an ornamental junction between
the shaft and its essential constructive member, the plinth.
In Decorated and Perpendicular columns, the plinth is usually
divided into heights, stages, or tables, by gradually spreading
courses, each separated from the next by a plain or molded
chamfer.

Of Norman bases it is not necessary to treat at length. The
varieties of form are not numerous ; and as they do not involve
complex moldings, like the after styles, it will be sufficient to
direct the attention of the student to the upper members, in
which the character of a base may be said principally to consist.
In shafts, the base often resembles the capital inverted ; in
some instances, the one might be substituted for the other with
scarcely any perceptible change of appearance. Often a bold
annular roll, quirked on the under side (as seen in PL. XIV.
figs. 3, 7), divides the shaft from the plinth. PL. XXI. fig. 9,
is from Fountains Abbey. Fig. 10 is a little later, from the
Chapter House of the same place. A very common form is
shown in PL. XIV. fig. 8, from the nave of Peterborough
Cathedral. This occurs in St. Sepulchre's, Cambridge, where
the present bases were cut from a very small piece, only a
few inches wide, which alone remained in the eight massive
columns of the circular part.

The moldings of the earliest Norman bases are frequently

86

MANUAL OF GOTHIC MOLDINGS.

" little better than scratches upon the surface,"* " and gener-

A little before the Transition period, a modification (often
with very trifling departure from the Classic) of the Attic base
was introduced, from which %e Early English is directly
derived. The Attic base is given in PL. XIV. figs. 1 and 2.
It consists of two rounds, with an intervening hollow separated
from them by fillets. If we compare this form with some of
the early Italian- Gothic bases, figs. 3, 4,f and with one from
Canterbury CathedralJ (date about 1180), fig. 5, we shall find
them rather identical with than similar to the Classic. The
uppermost fillet, or first member at the lower extremity of the
shaft, was, however, omitted in most if not in all cases ; and
the form in fig. 7, from Peterborough Cathedral, was very much
in vogue. § This example leads us at once to the ordinary
Early English base (fig. 12), the chief peculiarity of which con-
sists in the intermediate hollow being cut downwards rather than
sideways, and extended from half to three-quarters of a circle,
so that it is capable of containing water, which may often be
observed standing in exterior bases. The filleted rolls on each
side, above and below the hollow, are naturally formed by
cutting off the feather edges seen in fig. 3. A valuable

* Willis's Canterbury, p. 76.

t From Willis's Architecture of the Middle Ages.

I Canterbury Cathedral has a very French character in the work of
William of Sens, and this is more like Classic work than English archi-
tecture generally.

§ The bases of the pointed Norman columns in the nave of Buildwas
Abbey are nearly identical with this. — See Potter, PL. X.

St. Sepulchre, Helrnsley Ch.
Cambridge. Yorkshire.

i

St. Mary's,
Huntingdon.

ally consist of two reverse
curves, a concave above and
a convex below. Nothing
approaching to developed
isolated members and dis-
tinct gradations was known
in the early part of the
twelfth century.

OF BASES. 87

example of the Transition base is fig. 6, taken from
the great central piers of Byland Abbey, shortly after some
extensive excavations had revealed a great part of the ground-
plan and lower portions of the columns of that once splendid
church. Here we most distinctly recognize the peculiar feature
of the Attic base, the side-hollow of fig. 1— the lateral semi-
circle in place of the descending three-quarter circle. It
must be perfectly remembered that this water-holding base is
contemporary with the first dawn of the Transition style, and
may commonly be met with in pointed Norman work, i.e. as
early as 1160 or 1170. It is found in the Transition work of
William of Sens at Canterbury.*

There are two kinds of Early English bases. The first, and
by far the most common, is the form given in PL. XIV.
fig. 12 ; the other seems to be derived
either from omitting the hollow
altogether, as in figs. 10, 11, and
thus bringing the rolls into contact,
or from supplying its place by another
similar roll, as fig. 15, or even by an
interposed square edge, or plinthiform
member, as fig. 9, the bases of the choir columns in Kivaulx
Abbey. Generally, this intermediate roll is rather smaller,
and often a little depressed inwardly, as fig. 16, from Ely.
This base occurs almost invariably in Westminster Abbey.
It is seldom found except in the more advanced or florid
period of the Early English, when geometric windows of
two or more lights had begun to supersede the single lancet.
Hence was at once derived the ordinary Decorated base, figs.
33, 34, 35.

In very rich Early English bases there are often double
hollows between filleted rolls— after the analogy of the double
row of moldings to the bell in capitals. And below these, at

* Willis's Canterbury, p. 76.

88

MANUAL OF GOTHIC MOLDINGS.

some distance, occur other series of very bold annular rolls,

single, double, or even triple. PL.
XIV. fig. 18, is the base of a
great pier in Lincoln Cathedral.
Fig. 26, from the beautiful Galilee
at Ely, where the bases are worked
out of hard Purbeck marble, and
have all been elaborately polished.
Fig. 27 is from Skelton, near
York.

PL. XXI. fig. 4, is an example,
of the most ordinary form, from
the revestry or chapter-room at Ripon Cathedral. Fig. 7 is
from York Cathedral.

Sometimes the fillet is omitted in the upper roll, as PL.
XIV. fig. 25. In fig. 20, the hollow again approaches that of
the Attic base. Fig. 18, from Lincoln Cathedral, is a fine
piece of detail, of great richness and considerable spread.
Fig. 30, from Furness Abbey, is remarkable for the omission
of the hollow in the upper member. The examples given in
elevation, figs. 28 and 29, the former from Tintern, the latter
from Furness Abbey, will convey a correct idea of the general
appearance.* The spread of the base generally equals that of
the capital, or nearly so.

There is something extremely elegant in the form of this,
the more usual kind of Early English base ; and it is, more-
over, surprising to notice the uniformity which everywhere pre-
vails both in it and the capital of this period. The plainer
form (figs. 10, 11, 15, 16, 17, 21) may possibly have gradually
superseded the more elaborate, either from the difficult and
•complex work of the latter, or because the hollow was exter-
nally apt to be filled up with standing water, moss, or earth,

* The engraving is slightly incorrect, from the shaft not standing true
in the centre.

Peterborough Cathedral.

OF BASES. 89

and internally with dust and dirt, as it will almost invariably be
found to be. Probably the desire of forming a better weather-
ing had much influence in the change.

In Early English bases it is also to be remarked that the
large spreading roll, which forms the lower of the two mem-
bers between which the deep hollow is placed, is worked out of
the block, with which it usually stands flush, or in the same
plane, by a quirk or angular nook. This is almost invariable ;
and it is mentioned particularly with reference to Decorated
bases, where a marked difference in this part is observable.
Here we usually find either the scroll-molding (fig. 35, from
Coton, near Cambridge) or a flat under-edge, as fig. 42, from
the nave-piers at Trumpington ; or the part of the base below
it cut away, so that it overhangs clear, as fig. 40, the base of
the beautiful central column in the Chapter House at Wells ;
fig. 39, from the doorway in the same place ; fig. 37, from St.
Mary's Abbey, York; fig. 45, from Fishtoft, Lincolnshire.
This is generally a mark of late or florid Early English, when
found in work of the thirteenth century, as PL. XXL fig. 5,
an elegant base from the library of York Cathedral.

One of the commonest Decorated bases is that shown in
PL. XIV. fig. 35 ; the number of rolls being generally three,
but often only two, as fig. 34. In fig. 39 there are four ; but
the uppermost is of lead, by which the shaft is fastened. Not
a few modifications of this form occur; but they are seldom
very complex. Fig. 43 is from the nave-pillars at Bottisham,
near Cambridge ; fig. 38 is from the arcade in the Lady
Chapel at Ely, worked in Purbeck marble. Here the lower
member is the roll-and-fillet, which is not uncommon. It is
partially developed in fig. 41, from Over and Histon; an
example which retains a singular trace in its upper member of
the side hollow of the Attic base. PL. XV. fig. 3, is of un-
usual profile ; it is from the chancel at Over, Transition to
Perpendicular. PL. XIV. fig. 33, is from the nave-piers at

90 MANUAL OF GOTHIC MOLDINGS.

Tintern — already noticed as a specimen of the inverted scroll-
molding. Fig. 44 is from Boston. This form is not unusual
late in the style.

Decorated bases are often stilted, or raised above the floor,
with the plinth formed by graduated stages or tables, as before
described. This principle was carried to an extravagant excess
in the next style ; in some instances, as those under the
western tower at Ely, the uppermost member stands six or even
eight feet from the ground. The lower part of Decorated bases
is sometimes octagonal, or polygonal, as in the columns which
support the octagon at Ely ; and sometimes these faces are
fluted or hollow-chamfered. In the Decorated columns support-
ing the vault of the Lady Chapel at Wells, the base-moldings
are raised a considerable height from the floor. In the choir at
the Temple Church (1240), the principle of stilting the bases
may be seen, the plinth being very large and high, and the
moldings approximating to the Decorated profile.

Instead of the three half-rounds which ordinarily constitute
the Decorated base, one member, generally the second, but often
the first, is sometimes, as it were, scooped out in the middle, in
what might be called the inverted wave-molding, so as to form
an ogee curvature. This is seen in PL. XIV. figs. 36 (from the
Lady Chapel, Ely), 40, and 42. Hence the bell-shaped base of
the next style (PL. XV. figs. 1 and 2) was immediately derived.
Compare PL. XXI. fig. 6, a Decorated base from the nave of
York Cathedral, with fig. 8, a Perpendicular base from Bipon
Cathedral. The sharp under- edge of the second member in
the former example is a peculiar feature, decisive of Decorated
work.

So similar, however, are the two forms, that some pure Deco-
rated bases may occasionally be found which would have been
equally correct in a Perpendicular column. This ogee curve
seems to be derived from the several rolls which we have seen
were used in the bases, being a natural variation to avoid re-

OF BASES.

91

petition. It does not appear to occur in early, or geometric
Decorated.

But few examples of Decorated bases have been given,
because any important varieties from the forms described are
not of sufficiently frequent occurrence to render it necessary to
illustrate them. They are very chaste and elegant in profile;
often standing but a little above the floor-line, especially in
shafts, and thus of modest and unpretending contour. They
are for the most part of decided character ; and where any diffi-
culty occurs in determining their date, an inspection of the
capital, according to the rules already laid down, will readily
remove it.

The bases of Perpendicular columns are various ; but rather
in degrees of richness and the number of gradations than in
difference of form in the principal members. The prevailing
characteristic is a large bell-shaped
spread in the upper part, often rest-
ing on a cushion-like member, and
forming with it the contour of a double
ogee in section. PL. XV. figs. 1 and
2, are from Crosby Hall, and give a
correct representation of the most
ordinary kind. It will be particularly
observed that the lower part is almost
invariably octagonal, the upper being
generally round, though sometimes, as
the capital always is, octagonal. From
the great size and height of the best examples, they are not so
easily engraved in a small space : PL. XV., however, contains
enough specimens to guide the student under ordinary circum-
stances. Fig. 5 is from Louth ; fig. 13 from All Saints',
Stamford ; fig, 17 from Haslingfield ; fig. 18 from Holy Trinity,
Colchester ; fig. 20 from St. Edward's, Cambridge ; fig. 21 from
Herne, Kent.

92 MANUAL OF GOTHIC MOLDINGS.

Almost every Perpendicular base has either one or more
stages, sloping off by a hollow ledgement or chamfer, as figs. 15,
16, 17 ; or by a second bell-shaped slope, as figs. 5, 6, 14.
The ancient name for the lower member was the ground-table*
(especially when applied to mural basement moldings). All
Perpendicular bases have an annular roll, resembling the neck
of capitals, for the uppermost member. This is often the
debased roll-and-fillet shown in PL. VIII. fig. 21, as in PL. XV.
fig. 15, or the debased scroll-molding, as in PL. XV. fig. 18.
This feature is almost invariable, and is not found in the same
isolated form in any other style.

It is singular that edge lines occur less in Perpendicular
than in any other bases, almost every point being carefully
rounded off. There is a peculiar nakedness in the straight
unbroken line of the lower, or ground-table, rising, as it does,
abruptly from the floor to the height of two feet and more,
as in the interior of King's College Chapel ; but the bell is
of remarkably graceful form, and perhaps few will prefer the
contour of PL. XIV. fig. 29 or 32, to that of PL. XV. figs. 1
and 2.

Fig. 4 is from the Lady Chapel, Peterborough ; fig. 6 from
Carbrook ; fig. 7 from Saham ; fig. 8 from Dereham ; fig. 9
from Norwich Cathedral; fig. 10 from Mattishall; fig. 11 from
Swanton Morley, — all in Norfolk; figs. 12, 15, from Colchester;
fig. 14 from St. John's, Stamford; fig. 16 from St. Alban's;
fig. 22 from Saffron Walden.

* Sjee Willis's Architectural Nomenclature, § 39.

OP HOOD-MOLDINGS AND STRING-COURSES. 93

SECTION XI.

OF HOOD-MOLDINGS AND STRING-COURSES.

This is by no means an unimportant branch of the study of
Gothic moldings, the varieties and peculiar characteristics of
the styles being as well defined in such details as in any
hitherto described. Of the immense diversity of forms only
some of the most ordinary can be enumerated ; for capricious
irregularities constantly occur, which, as they seem reducible to
no certain rule, hardly claim a place in laying down the prin-
ciples of a system. Yet, though the form may be arbitrary, the
character is generally maintained.

PL. XVI. contains a series of moldings of this sort (for hood-
moldings and string-courses must be classed together, being in
fact very often identical, or the one continued from the other),
divided into three parts, illustrating the three styles.

It has been before observed that string-courses may be
regarded as the successors of the horizontal lines by which
Classical is principally distinguished from Gothic architecture ;
and the importance of them will be felt when it is remembered
that all masonry is made up of successive layers, so that they
form a most genuine piece of decorative construction, and are
almost essential to the feeling of repose. They consist of pro-
jecting ledges of stone, carried below windows, both within and
without ; round buttresses and other angular projections ; and
in cornices, parapets, tower-stages, and other parts of edifices,
used as dividing lines to set off one particular portion as distinct
from another. Though subordinate, and seemingly insignificant,
details, they are of the greatest possible importance in imparting
a character to a building. Sometimes, breaking playfully from
the horizontal, they rise in graduated and rectangular heights..

94

MANUAL OF GOTHIC MOLDINGS.

Sometimes carried over a doorway or round an arch ; now dying
into the wall ; now, as it were, passing into some interrupting
projection, and, nothing baffled by it, reappearing on the other
side ; now starting aloof into a window-label, and playing the
most fantastic tricks before again descending ; a string-course
at once relieves naked masonry, and binds into a whole the
seemingly detached portions of a rambling and irregular con-
struction. In most cases, especially in windows, it forms a
real drip or weathering, and of course adapts its upper surface
especially to this end. Hood-moldings, when used internally,
cannot be said to have any real use ; but they form a
decorative finish of too important a kind to be neglected with
impunity.

Norman string-courses are generally of heavy and massive
profile — full of edges or hard chamfered surfaces. In most
cases they are adorned with some sculptured decoration of the
style, as the billet, the chevron, the hatched or serrated
molding, and the like. The plain half-hexagon, or square
bead with chamfered angles, is one of the commonest forms.
Two or three only are given in PL. XVI. as specimens of the
kind, viz., figs. 6, 7, 8, and 9. The latter is from the chancel-
arch, at St. Giles's, Cambridge, erected before the year 1100.
The semi-hexagon, grooved or worked on the middle of the outer
face similar to that in fig. 8, is frequently found. Not less than
eleven of this form, with varieties scarcely perceptible and merely
accidental, are given in PL. XIX. of Potter's work on Buildwas
Abbey. The upper edge is often left square, instead of being
weathered off ; and the wide but shallow form presents an
appearance suiting well with the massive character of the work
and the low relief decoration, though not relieved by the dark
shadows caused by undercutting the lower surface.

The commonest Early English strings are those given in
PL. XVI. figs. 13, 15, 18, 22, 25. Figs. 10 and 12 may also
very often be found. They follow the same changes as the

OF HOOD-MOLDINGS AND STRING-COURSES.

95

Early English.

abaci of capitals of which several successive forms are given on
page 77. The rounding of the upper edge
began in this style, but the undercutting is
the most striking characteristic of this, as of
all other moldings of the style. Fig. 11
is from Furness Abbey; fig. 17 from Tintern;
fig. 19 from Rivaulx ; fig. 21 from Byland.
The latter is curious from its late form (see
fig. 71), though the date is about 1200. The same remark applies
to fig. 20, from Furness, in which even the characteristic Perpen-
dicular ogee of fig. 4 occurs. Fig. 23 is from Lincoln Minster. It
is peculiarly elegant, and of frequent occurrence. Fig. 24 is from
All Saints', Stamford. Fig. 25 has the scroll-molding ; fig. 26 the
roll-and-fillet complete. Both are equally common in Decorated
work. Fig. 28 generally marks the time of Edwards I. and II.

The most frequent Decorated form is
perhaps figs. 35 or 48. Figs. 44, 49, 53, are
also very common. The scroll-molding with
a half-round next below it, the same as in
the abacus of capitals of this period, is very
characteristic, as fig. 36. Fig. 41 is gene-
rally found in Transition to Perpendicular.
Fig. 43 is from the vestibule of the Chapter House at Wells,
early in the style. Fig. 50 is from Over, near Cambridge ;
fig. 45 from Bottisham.

The rounded form of the upper side, or
weathering, is characteristic of the first two
styles ; the angular or chamfered of the last
— although this peculiarity is also very com-
mon in late Decorated buildings. In this
respect also string courses follow the prin- Transition strings,
ciple of the abacus of capitals.* PL. XVI. figs. 52 and 55, may

* Early English strings are often continued from the abaci of capitals,
which perhaps accounts for this fact.

Decorated.

96

MANUAL OF GOTHIC MOLDINGS.

therefore be pronounced late in the style. Undercuttings, it
has already been remarked, occur principally in the time of
Edwards I. and II. , as figs. 32, 44, 51.

Perpendicular strings and hood-moldings are generally
marked by the sloping plane of the upper surface, as PL. XVI.
figs. 60, 61. The details of the parts underneath are so
varied as to render it almost impossible to give anything
like a complete account of them ; yet, nu-
merous as they are, they will generally be
found to recur with tolerable uniformity.
Usually there is a small bowtell in the lowest
part, as in figs. 57, 59, 62, 64, 68, 71, and
others, more or less clearly developed. This

, ... nr.j.1 ,i P erpondiculur Strings.

is rather a characteristic mark oi the style.
PL. XX. fig. 16, from Grantham Church, is another example.
Fig. 18 is a string-course from the same place. Perhaps the
most ordinary forms are PL. XVI. figs. 61, 68, 71. The
double ogee, as fig. 60, and the combination of the ogee with the
under fillet, already described, as in figs. 56, 77, often occur.
Fig. 78 exhibits the peculiar Perpendicular form already pointed
out. A semicircle sunk in the under side of half a square pro-
jecting diagonally, as in fig. 66, is also a common variety.
Embattled string-courses occur now and then in this style, as in
the cornice of the aisles at Cromer Church, Norfolk.

In copying string-courses, it is better to draw the parts of
the wall above and below perpendicularly on the paper, not only
for a guide to show the direction of inclination or projection,
which, without this, is left quite indefinite, but also because the
wall often recedes above the string, or even overhangs, as fig. 56.
The angles of the chamfers can best be attained by bending a
piece of lead across them. Sometimes a foot-rule may be bent
against the wall and the under part, as fig. 67, and thus the
exact angle can readily be transferred to paper.

Much more might, and indeed ought, to be said on the subject

CONCLUSION.

97

of moldings, were it the intention of the writer to attempt any-
thing like a complete essay. For example, there yet remain
wholly unnoticed several important cases of the application of
moldings in Gothic architecture. Basements, weatherings of
buttresses, cappings of parapets and battlements, plans of
monials, groin-ribs, timbers of roofs, and other wood-work,
besides the many and interesting varieties of ornamental or
floriated moldings, are all well deserving of the closest attention.
But a great book is a great evil, as a philosopher of old has
declared ; and it has been the wish of the author rather to win
the attention of the reader, by pointing out the way to copy and
observe, than to deter him by the uninviting form of a grave
and heavy book. Quite enough has been said, it is conceived,
to illustrate the really essential principles of the science. And
no one need feel any difficulty or perplexity in recognizing the
details of the styles, who will take the trouble to apply the rules
laid down in this little work.

SECTION XII.

CONCLUSION.

In studying the history and development of moldings in the
ancient buildings in this country there is much that is of great
interest to the antiquary, but that interest is very much en-
larged when the student feels that he is learning not only what
has been done heretofore, but, if I may so term it, his alphabet,
for designs he may himself make in the future.

Whatever building he may have the opportunity of designing
he is so sure to find himself requiring some ornament of this
kind, that the study of the subject will assist him in bringing
his design to a successful issue. Whatever the class of building

H

98 MANUAL OF GOTHIC MOLDINGS.

may be, whether he is wishing to make it effective by its mas-
siveness and its solid character, or by its delicacy of treatment
and carefully adjusted proportion, whether he chooses to
render this by the flat broad moldings of the Norman period,
or the deeply cut and sharply defined molding of the Early
English period, or the softer and rounder outlines of the Dec-
orated, or if he chooses later work, his knowledge of what has
been done, and his experience of the effect produced, will, more
surely than anything else, enable him to set out such work as
will produce the effect he is aiming at.

Whether, again, he limits his aims to mere selection, or
whether he uses his study to enable him to design, as far as he
has powers to do so, or even if he indulges in mere inventing,
his knowledge of what has been done must be of value to him.

One of the first things to be considered in designing a
molding is the use it is intended for. Mr. Buskin forcibly
brings an example of what I mean, though it is a very simple

case. He illustrates the ordinary square angle, and shows that
in order to prevent the probable chipping and breaking of
a fine edge, the angle was simply rounded ; but, as he says, this
was not Art : it was only when the angle was treated further,
either as a simple bead or a more enriched molding, that the
mind of the artist stepped in ; and yet the use of this molding
really was to obtain a surface that would have a fair chance of
retaining its form without damage.

A very prominent use of the ordinary exterior string-
course is to throw the water off the building and prevent its
running down and staining the wall ; and care should be taken

CONCLUSION. 99

that it will do this — a care not always thought of in modern
buildings.

Take, again, the case of the ordinary Arcade found in almost
every church. The wall carrying the main roof is to be pierced
so as to extend the area of the floor into the aisles : if this were
done simply by leaving square piers and rectangular arches,
the value of much space would be lost, and therefore the
columns were reduced in section and the strength maintained
by making them solid stone instead of mere walling. And the
work of the Artist comes when this column has to be enlarged
at the base so that there is the same support from the founda-
tion, and where the capital is formed to receive the arch, and
again where the arch is divided into its various parts to make
it work harmoniously with the capital, &c. The manner of
accomplishing these ends may be varied immensely. Some of
the methods used in ancient work are described above, and the
object of the Artist is so to bring all these parts together, that
while gaining the utmost utility the design forms one harmo-
nious whole.

In order to obtain this there are one or two points which
should be carefully studied. In the first place, moldings should
be designed with a careful attention to the position from which
they will be most commonly seen. To say that the upper
surface of the base and the lower side of the capital should be
those molded seems too obvious to need pointing out ; but the
same principle should be carried out where it is not quite so
obvious, and where it requires a little thought
to make it effective. As an instance of this in
old work, I may mention a purlin which was
taken down in Pembroke College, Cambridge.
The natural tendency of the draughtsman in
an office would be to set out the moldings
symmetrically, the roll being placed so that the hollow molds
on each side were alike ; but the Artist who built Pembroke

h 2

100

MANUAL OF GOTHIC MOLDINGS.

noted the fact that the upper side would be much less seen
than the lower when viewed from the floor, and therefore
widened the upper side thus.

Other instances will continually occur, and
the thought of where the molding will be
chiefly seen from should be continually pre-
sent.

The question of scale is also a most impor-
tant consideration. Few have any idea, until they have been
startled with the appearance of their finished work, how small
a molding looks when executed and placed a few feet from the
eye, that had seemed very large when on the drawing-board.
And nothing but actual measurement of executed work, new or
old, will ever fix this on the mind.

When this preliminary difficulty is overcome, there still
remains that of whether the work will be coarse from an over
attempt to be bold, or weak from a too intense desire to be
refined. To steer clearly between these — to know when to allow
free scope and emphasize a feature by a little over boldness,
and when to draw attention by an exceeding delicate treatment,
is the knowledge of the Artist which study and experience alone
can give. The principles of design are beyond the scope of
this little book, but it has been thought well to note a few
points that may be useful to the student and those commencing
their career, in the hope that, when they look back in future
years on their early work, they may find that they have learnt
by study and observation what others have had to discover by
the experience of failure in obtaining the results they were
aiming at.

PLATE I.

1. Plain Saxon Window (Diagram).

2. Example of Chamfer.

3. Example of Thirteenth-Century Chamfered Window.

4. Diagram of Sub-arch.

5. Do. do. Chamfered.

6. Little Casterton — Arch Mold.

7. Cherry Hinton— Cambridgeshire — Chancel Arch.

8. Little Casterton — Transition Norman Arch.

9. Horningsea, Cambridgeshire — c. 1190.

10. Waterbeach, do. Broach Stop.

11. Friesland, Lincolnshire — Norman Pier Arch.

12. Skirbeck, do. Early English Pier Arch.

13. Great Grimsby.

14. Clee, Lincolnshire.

15. Adel, near Leeds.

16. St. Mary's, Ely.

17. Clee, Lincolnshire — Eespond.

18. Tintern Abbey — Groin Eib.

19. St. Benet's, Lincoln.

20. Lincoln Cathedral — Doorway in Precincts.

21. Fig. 6 enlarged.

22. Eobertsbridge Abbey — Groin Eib.

23. Diagram of Pointed and Side Filleted Bowtell.

24. Fig. 19 enlarged.

25. Little Casterton, Butland.

PLATE II.

1. Middle Easen— Early English Pier Arch.

2. Ludborough, Lincolnshire — Doorway.

3. Langtoft, do. Chancel Arch.

5. Great Grimsby, do. South Porch, Jamb.

6. Cherry Hinton, Cambridgeshire— North Door.

7. Do. do. Chancel Door, Interior.

8. Do. do. Pier Arch.

9. Over, do. Doorway.

10. Diagram of Planes — a Chamfer Plane.

B Soffit Plane,
c Wall Plane.

11. Over, Cambridgeshire.

13. Do. do. Window Jamb.

14. Madingley, do. do.

15. Stamford, All Saints'— Pier Arch.

16. Trumpington, Cambridgeshire— Doorway.

17. Tintern Abbey — Groin Eib.

18. Cambridge, St. Clement's— South Doorway.

19. Cherry Hinton— Inner Door, South Porch.

PLATE III.

1. Louth— Early English Doorway.

2. Plymouth — Belfry Arch.

3. Ely Cathedral — Pier Arches, Choir.

4. Eobertsbridge Abbey — Groin Eib.

5. Tintern Abbey — Fragment.

6. St. Mary's Abbey, York — Fragment.

7. Eobertsbridge Abbey— Groin Eib.

8. All Saints', Stamford.

9. Histon, Cambridgeshire — Arch over Piscina and Capital.

10. Wittering, Northants — Chancel Arch.

11. Furness Abbey — Chapter House.

12. St. Peter Gowts, Lincoln.

13. Euskington, Lincolnshire.

14. Utterby, do.

15. Attleborough, Norfolk.

16. Common form of Decorated Pier.

17. Skelton, near York.

18. St. John's, Stamford.

19. St. Martin's, do.

20. St. Mary's, do.

Plate nr.

J.HXe A'Cio/r <sc.

London : Gurney & Jackson , Paternoster Row.

PLATE IV.

1. Diagram of Eoll Molding.

2. Eeymerston, Norfolk.

3. Diagram of first sketch of Mold.

4. Barholme — semi-Norman Arch.

5. Barnack — Early English Arch.

6. Trmnpington — Belfry Arch.

7. Glastonbury— c. 1200— Groin Bib.

8. Peterborough Cathedral — Groin Kib.

9. Diagram of possible first formation of Fillet.

10. Diagram of common form, Boll and Triple Fillet.

11. Ludborough, Lincolnshire — Chancel Doorway.
12 )

'[ Lincoln Cathedral.

lo. J

14. Yaxley, Hunts — Doorway.

15. Furness Abbey — Groin Bib.

16. Lincoln Cathedral — Arcade.

17. Diagram of Boll and Fillet.

18. Do. do.

19. Do. Broad Fillet.

20. Do. Scroll Molding.

21. Do. Fleur-de-lis Molding.

22. Do. variety of Scroll Molding.

EARLY ENGLISH. Plate IV.

JKZeJ&ua:. sc.

London: Gurney bo. Jackson, Paternoster Row.

PLATE V.

1. Boston — Monument.

2. Great Ellingham — Doorway.

3. Attleborough, Norfolk — West Doorway.

4. Boston — Inner Doorway, South Porch.

5. Ewerby — Monument.

6. Northborough, Northants— Window Jamb.

7. Benington, Lincolnshire — Interior of Window Jamb.

8. Heckington, do. Interior of Window Jamb.
9- Do. do. Inner Jamb, East Window.

10. Benington, do. Exterior Jamb of Window.

11. Hingham, Norfolk — Chancel Doorway.

12. Attleborough — Doorway.

13. West Keal, Lincolnshire — Belfry Arch.

14. Hingham— Window.

15. Variety of Decorated Pier.

16. Stretham, Cambridgeshire.

17. Variety of Decorated Pier.

DECORATED

Plate V.

J.H.ZeJieux. sr.

London: Gurney & Jackson, Paternoster Rov/.

PLATE VI.

1. Little Ellingham, Norfolk — Doorway.

2. Hingham, Norfolk — West Door.

3. Do. do. Pier Arch.

4. Boston — Pier Arch.

5. Sleaford — Window Jamb.

6. Deopham — Doorway.

7. Boston — Monument in Church (a, Soffit).

8. Hingham — North Doorway.

9. Do. Double Ogee and Hollow.

10. Little Ellingham, Norfolk — Doorway.

11. Deopham — Inner Doorway, South Porch.

12. Benington, Lincolnshire — South Porch.

13. Hardingham, Norfolk — Archway.

14. Boston — East Window, Double Ogee and Hollow.

15. Stoke Golding, Leicestershire.

DE-C0K.AT1-.D. Plate VI.

J.B.ZeJfeiuc. sc .

London: Gurney Sx. Jackson , Paternoster Row.

PLATE VII.

1.

2.

3.
4.

Llandaff Cathedral— West Doorway.
Diagram, Double Chamfer.
Trumpington — West Doorway.

Do. Pier Arch.

5. Eivaulx — Fragment.

6. Fen Stanton, Hunts — Window.

7. Northborough, Northants — Doorway.

8. Peterborough— Outer Archway, west entrance to precincts.

9. Yaxley, Hunts — Window.

10. Clipsham, Eutland.

11. Horbling, Lincolnshire.

12. Over, Cambridgeshire— Window in Chancel.

13. Northborough — Outer Porch Doorway.

14. Eivaulx, Yorkshire — Fragment.

15. Do. do. Groin Eib.

16. West Keal — Doorway.

17. Wave Molds and Hollow.

18. Swanton Morley, Norfolk.

19. Hingham, do. Window.

20. Trumpington — East Window.

21. Keddington (or Ketton), Suffolk— Chancel Window.

22. Thurlby, Lincolnshire — Piscina.

23. Langtoft, Lincolnshire — South Doorway.

a Shallow Wave Mold.

B Sunken Chamfer.

c Deopham — Belfry Arch.

PLATE VIII.

1. Uffington, near Stamford — "West Doorway.

2. Dereham, Norfolk — West Doorway in isolated Tower.

3. Saham Toney, do. — West Doorway.

4. Fishtoft, Lincolnshire.

5. Leverton, do. East Window.

6. Partney, do. Doorway.

7. Louth, do. Doorway.

8. Stewton, do. Window Jamb.

9. Lincoln — Oriel Window.

10. Chesterton, Cambridgeshire — East Window.

12. Lincoln Cathedral — South Choir Chapel.

13. St. Sepulchre's, Cambridge — Arch.

14. Great Gransden, near St. Neots, Hunts — Niche.

15. Stapleford, Cambridgeshire — East Window.

16. Great Shelford, do. Inner Doorway, South Porch.

17. Holy Trinity, Colchester — Pier Arch.

18. Long Melford, Suffolk— Pier Arch.

19. St. Martin's, Stamford — Doorway.

20. Do. do. Pier Arch.

21. Louth.

I 2

PERPENDICULAR. Plate WE.

London: Gurney <5c Jackson, Paternoster Row.

PLATE IX.

1. St. Martin's, Stamford — East Window.

7. Histon, Cambridgeshire — "Window.

8. Skirlaugh, Yorkshire — Chancel Doorway.

9. Harlton, Cambridgeshire — North Doorway.

10. Skirlaugh, Yorkshire — South Doorway.

11. Basingstoke, Hampshire.

12. Diagram of Window Jamb of common form.

13. Haslingfield, Cambridgeshire — Belfry Arch.

14. Granchester, do. South Doorway

15. Molding of constant occurrence.

16. St. Alban's.

17. Ryhall, Rutland — Doorway.

18. Do. do. Window.

2. Do.

do.
do.
do.
do.
do.

West Doorway.
West Doorway.

3. St. John's,

4. Bede House,

5. All Saints',

6. Do.

Pier Arch.
West Doorway.

PLATE X.

1. Diagram of rudimentary Capital.

3. Laceby, Lincolnshire.

4. Middle Easen, do.

12. Lincoln Cathedral.

13. Buskington.

16. Great Abington, Cambridgeshire.

17. Thurlby, Lincolnshire.

18. Furness Abbey, Chapter House.

19. Tintern Abbey.

22. Furness Abbey.

23. Bolton Abbey, Yorkshire.

24. Do. do.
26. Do. do.

28. Tintern Abbey.

29. Arreton, Isle of Wight.

30. Saffron Walden, Essex.

37. Bolton Abbey.

38. Early English Abacus.

39. Decorated Abacus.

40. Early English Capital.

5. Walesby,

7. Frieston,

8. Do.

9. Stickney,
10. Do.

do.
do.
do.
do.
do.

PLATE XI.

1. Yaxley, Hunts.

2. Do. do.

3. Fletton, Hunts.

4. Boston, Lincolnshire — Chapel used as Vestry.

6. Leverton, do.

7. Do. do.
9. Sibsey, do.

10. Sticlrford, do.

11. Partney, do.

12. Legburn, do.

13. Waltham, do.
18. Aswardby, do.

22. Abington, Cambridgeshire.
28. Louth.

PLATE XII.

11. Trumpington, Cambridgeshire — Capital of Nave Pier.

13. Little Shelford, do. Monument.

14. Maxey, Northamptonshire.

15. Hingham, Norfolk — Nave Piers.

16. Careby, Lincolnshire.
19. Uffmgton, do.

22. -J

23. [ St. Martin's, Stamford.

24. )
26. >

27 I St. John's, do.

28. St. George's, do.

29. Bede House, do.

Plate XH.

■XS-Ie^KevJC. so.

London: Gurnejr i< Jackson, Paternoster Row.

p

PLATE XIII.

1. Long Melford, Siiffolk.

4. Louth, Lincolnshire.

9. j- Colchester.

12. )

13. Fen Ditton, Cambridgeshire.

14. Harston, do.

16. Dry Drayton, do.

17. Mattishall, Norfolk.

18. Elsworth Hall, do.

19. Saham Toney, do.

PERPENDICULAR CAPITALS

Plate XHH.

J.H.Le K&iuc so.

London: Gurney 3c Jackson , Paternoster Row.

PLATE XIV.

J

Attick Base.

3. ) Italian Gothic Bases, from Willis's Architecture of the Middle

4. £ Ages.

5. Canterbury Cathedral.

6. Byland Abbey — Central Piers.

7. Peterborough Cathedral.

8. Do. do.

9. Rivaulx Abbey — Choir Columns.

16. Ely Cathedral.

17. Lincoln Cathedral — Base of Great Piers.

18. Do. do.
20. Furness Abbey.

26. Ely Cathedral— Galilee.

27. Skelton, near York.

28. Tintern Abbey.

29. Furness Abbey.

30. Do. do.

33. Tintern Abbey — Nave Piers.

35. Coton, Cambridgeshire.

36. Ely Cathedral— Lady Chapel.

37. St. Mary's Abbey, York.

38. Ely Cathedral— Lady Chapel.

39. Wells Cathedral — Doorway.

40. Do. do. Central Column, Chapter House.

41. Over and Histon, Cambridgeshire.

42. Trumpington — Nave Pier.

43. Bottisham, Cambridgeshire — Nave Piers.

44. Boston, Lincolnshire.

45. Fishtoft, do.

Plate XIV

London: Gurney <5c Jackson, Paternoster Row.

PLATE XV.

1. Crosby Hall.

2. Do. do.

3. Over, Cambridgeshire — Chancel.

4. Peterborough Cathedral — Lady Chapel

5. Louth.

6. Carbrook, Norfolk.

7. Saham, do.

8. Dereham, do.

9. Norwich Cathedral.

10. Mattishall, Norfolk.

11. Swanton Morley, do.
12= Colchester.

13. All Saints', Stamford.

14. St. John's, do.

15. Colchester.

16. St. Alban's Abbey.

17. Haslingfield, Cambridgeshire.

18. Holy Trinity, Colchester.

20. St. Edward's, Cambridge.

21. Heme, Kent.

22. Saffron "Walden, Essex.

Plate SF.

London: Gurney & Jackaon, Paternoster Row.

PLATE XVI.

Examples of Strings, Hood Molds, &c, from various sources.

K 2

London: Gurnej <5c Jackson , Paternoster Row.

PLATE XVII.

1. Bottisham, Cambridgeshire — South Porch.

2. Do. do. North Porch.

3. Do. do. South Porch, Inner Doorway.

4. Grantham, Lincolnshire — South Aisle Window.

5. Langham, Butland — Doorway,

6. Grantham, Lincolnshire — South Aisle Window.

8. Over, Cambridgeshire — South Porch.

9. Grantham — South Aisle Window.
10. Grantham — Window Jamb.

Plate

T TuTTiMiZl sc.

London: Gurney <3c Jackson , Paternoster Row.

PLATE XVIII.

1. Rivaulx Abbey.

2. Peterborough Cathedral — Doorway opposite South Aisle of

Nave : half-inch scale.

3. Do. do. Doorway in Cloister : half-inch scale.

4. Rivaulx Abbey — Window Jamb.

5. Do. do. Ruined Doorway

6. Castle Rising, Norfolk — East Window.

7. Beaulieu Abbey — South Transept Refectory.

8. Ripon Cathedral — Choir.
10. Castle Rising, Norfolk.

piai e xsrm.

T. TurribuZL so .

London: Gurney 3c Jackson , Paternoster Row.

PLATE XIX.

2*| Diagrams showing the formation of the Wave Molding.

3. Bottisham, Cambridgeshire — East Window, South Aisle.

4. Saffron Walden, Essex.

5. Stretton, Eutland.

6. Grantham, Lincolnshire.

7. Do. do. Crypt.

8. Fountains Abbey — Lady Chapel.

PLATE XX.

1. Landbeach, Cambridgeshire — Doorway.

2. Quy, do. Window.
3 Grantham — Chancel "Window.

Peterborough Cathedral — Archway in Cloister.

5. Eipon Cathedral.

6. Eivanlx Abbey.

7. Eipon Cathedral — Window Jamb, South Aisle.
9. Bolton Abbey — Doorway.

10. Newton, near Cambridge — West Doorway.

11. Bolton Abbey.

12. Do. do.

13. Grantham — Choir Doorway.

14. Lancaster — Arch Mold of Nave.

15. Bolton Abbey — Monument.

16. Grantham.

17. Willingham, Cambridgeshire — Chancel Door.

18. Grantham.

Plate XX.

T. Twrnb du so.

London: Gurney Sc Jackson , Paternoster Row.

PLATE XXI.

1. Morcot, Rutland.

2. Seaton, do.

4. Eipon Cathedral — Revestry or Chapter Room.

5. York Cathedral — Library.

6. Do. do. Nave.

7. Do. do.

8. Ripon Cathedral.

9. Fountains Abbey.

10. Do. do. Chapter House.

Plate XXI.

T Tiirnbuli so-

London: Gurney Sc Jackson, Paternoster Row.

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